The Walking Dead: Gamma Protector
by Hulkfan96
Summary: When Bruce Banner stumbles upon a zombie apocalypse, he befriends a man and a young girl with a single goal- survive. Takes place during Seasons 1 & 2 of the video game. This version of the Hulk is his Doc Green version.
1. The Dead Rise

- **Atlanta, Georgia** -

A police cruiser drives away from the city, driven by a balding officer while an African-American man sits in the back seat, his hands cuffed together. The officer adjusts his mirror before looking at the man. "So..." The officer says, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah?" The man asks as he occasionally looks out the windows, noticing several emergency response vehicles speeding to and from the city. "What the hell are they in such a hurry for?" He asks in his mind.

"What'd you do?" The officer asks.

"What?" The prisoner asks, almost as if he's offended or uncomfortable with the question.

"The crime. What did you do? Not like we have anything else to do before you get incarcerated or whatever." The officer says as he adjusts his mirror again, almost out of habit. He adjusts it every few minutes.

The prisoner sighs. "My wife...I caught her sleeping with a senator. I freaked out, killed the bastard before killing my wife." He says, looking down in shame over his actions.

"Jesus. Did you intend to kill your wife?" The officer asks.

"No. She tried to stop me from bashing that senator's brains in, but I shoved her away. She hit the back of her neck against our dresser, breaking her neck."

"Yeesh. Sounds like you married the wrong woman." The cop replies.

"Or maybe she married the wrong man..." The prisoner retorts as he looks out the car window in sadness.

A few minutes later, the officer notices a tall and unassuming man walking down the side of the road away from the city. Curious, the officer slows down. "Hey, you. Stop!" He shouts, getting the man to stop in his tracks and turn around. The man was fairly good looking, though he had quite a lot of facial hair, as well as the hair on the top of his head, which flowed past his ears. "You alright?"

The man nods. "Yeah, yeah. I'm just...trying to get somewhere. Figured I'd get out of Atlanta like everyone else."

"Well, you'd get outta here faster if you had a car. Come on. Hop in." He says, motioning the man to get in the car. The man sighs before getting in the car and sitting in the passenger seat next to the officer, who starts to drive further away from Atlanta, which was becoming harder to see as time went on. "So, where were you headed, pal?"

"I don't know. Wherever I can get, I guess. I'm Bruce. Bruce Banner." The man says as he shrugs his shoulders. A few minutes later, the prisoner noticed a shambling figure standing in the path of the car in the distance, dragging one of its feet along the asphalt.

"WATCH OUT!" The man in the back seat shouted, hoping the officer would notice and avoid colliding with the figure dragging itself across the road. But it was too late. The car hit the figure, violently denting the front of the car as the figure practically flew on top of the car, his limbs horrifically flailing in unnatural ways as it now lay on the road, more than likely dead. The car smashed through a guardrail as it headed down a hill, rolling over several times before hitting a tree as it lay upside down. The crash was so violent that it sent the officer through the windshield, though Bruce and the prisoner remained in the car, though the backseat occupant received a nasty cut along his leg before the two pass out from the ordeal.

* * *

- **Later** -

Many hours later, Bruce and the other man wake up, groaning wearily as they slowly realize what happened. The man screamed as his leg moved ever so slightly, causing pain to emerge, the type of pain that made him feel like his leg was on fire.

"Ahhhh!" He screams as he clutches his leg with his cuffed hands.

Bruce looks behind him, hearing his screams. "You okay?"

"No, man! Ahh, my damn leg...!" He exclaims, still holding his leg as Bruce kicks out the window of the passenger door and slowly exits the car. He tries to pull the back door open, but it won't budge. It must've been jammed during the crash. Bruce closes his eyes as his heart starts to beat rapidly. However, he kept a cool head, though his arm muscles slightly enlarged and his eyes glowed green for a second as he pulls the door off its hinges and tosses it aside, his arms and eyes returning to normal. "What the fu-?" The man starts to say only to stop as he weakly exits the car, continuously groaning about his leg until the two notice the officer that was driving the car. There was a trail of blood leading to him, as if he was dragged along the ground after being flung through the windshield.

"Oh, my God..." Bruce says, horrified by what happened.

"Horrible way to die..." The other man says softly as he approaches the officer.

"Whoa. What are you doing?" Bruce asks, slightly on edge.

"I'm getting the handcuff keys. I'm not exactly planning on moving past this with my hands stuck together." The man says as he stands over the cop, who wasn't breathing. "H-He's dead, man..." The man whispers as he takes the handcuff keys from the officer's corpse. Suddenly, it springs back to life, it's eyes milk white and its skin pale as it growls at the man, who falls down as the formerly dead officer crawls after him. "Ahhh! Officer, stop!" The man pleads as he crawls towards the police car. Before the dead cop could reach the man, Bruce muscles up again, dragging the cop away and violently tosses him against a tree with inhuman force.

After that, the man looks up at Bruce, shocked by what he just did. "Oh, shit..." However, the officer wasn't dead, as it once again crawled towards the two. The man spots a shotgun laying on the ground, along with one shotgun shell. He struggles to put it in due to nerves, but aims it at the officer's head and pulls the trigger, completely destroying his head as the formerly dead man goes limp once again. Bruce winces as some of the officer's blood splatters onto his shoe.

"Oh, my God!" The man screams, horrified by what he just did, dropping the empty shotgun on the ground. As he tries to comprehend what just went down, he and Bruce spot a figure in the distance...a little girl. "Hey! You! Get help! There-There's been a shooting!" The man hollers as the little girl runs off.

Bruce walks to the man and offers his hand to him. "Come on." Without much choice, the man accepts the help.

"Thanks. Man, what the fuck is going on?!" He asks Bruce.

"My guess? Zombie apocalypse." Bruce answers, getting a raised eyebrow from the man. "I mean, think about it. That officer dies. Then a few minutes later, he comes back and tries to eat you."

"Shit...This in unbelievable..." The man says before hearing a collective of hoarse moans. Very similar to the moans the officer made when he attacked the man.

That was their cue to run. Bruce grabbed a heavy stick and struck any of the zombies that tried to bite him or the man. The two made it to a tall wooden fence as Bruce helped the man climb over it before doing the same thing himself, just barely making it as a large group of at least 10 zombies push against the fence.

Finally safe, Bruce and the man stop to catch their breath, realizing that they were in a backyard of a house that seemed to be abandoned.

"Hey." The man says to Bruce as they enter the house. "Name's Lee." He says, holding his hand out.

Bruce smiles lightly as he shakes Lee's hand. "Nice to meet you, Lee. I guess we should look around, see if we can find anything to use against the zombies."

* * *

- **Later** -

After a good while, Bruce and Lee wind up finding nothing of use, though Lee finds a walkie talkie in the kitchen, noticing several flower stickers on it.

"Wonder who this belongs to..." Lee softly says before the walkie talkie clicks on.

"Hey. You need to be quiet." An adorable voice of a little girl says on the other end.

"Who is this?" Lee asks.

"My name's Clementine." She says sweetly. She sounded like the most innocent person in the world.

"Where are you? I can't see you.." Lee says as he looks out the window.

"I'm in my treehouse. See?" She says as she opens a flap on a small treehouse in the backyard, waving at Lee, who smiles as he waves back. Suddenly, Clementine screams and hides in her treehouse as a zombified girl attacks him, clutching his shoulders and leaning in, trying to bite into his neck. Lee manages to push her off and limps away, only to slip on some blood and hit the back of his head on the counter, which blurs his vision as the zombie lumbers towards him.

Right as the zombie is within arms reach of Lee, Bruce kicks the zombie to the ground as Lee crawls to the screen door that he and Bruce used to enter the house, Clementine standing on the other side of the door, holding a hammer, which Lee takes and uses it to attack the zombie, bashing its skull in several times, with its moans becoming more and more guttural with each hit until it finally stops.

"Geez..." Bruce says in reaction to Lee's brutality. Seems like his skills as an 'accidental' murderer will come in handy.

"Thanks, kid." Lee says as he stands up and looks at Clementine, who is practically shaking. "Hey. You're very brave. Are you okay?" He asks, kneeling down so he can get a better look at her.

Clementine whimpers softly before looking at Lee. "I miss my mommy and daddy..."

Lee nods in understanding. "I know."

"Do you...think they'll come back?" She asks, not realizing Bruce and Lee give off the vibe that her parents were more than likely dead...or worse.

"I, uh...think they'll be gone for a while." Lee says.

"Oh. Okay..." Clementine says sadly.

"I'm Lee. This is Bruce." Lee says motioning to Bruce, who waves at Clementine.

"Hi, Lee. Hi, Bruce." She says sadly, clearly still bummed about her parents still not being around.

"Lee, we should get outta here before more zombies show up." Bruce says softly, to which Lee nods as he looks at Clementine.

"Clementine...we have to go. Would you like to come with us?"

After a few seconds of contemplating, Clementine slowly nods her head.

* * *

- **Outside** -

Bruce, Lee, and Clementine exit the house. Heading for a gate that leads to the front of the house.

"Um, Lee?" Clementine asks while Bruce slowly opens the rusted gate, temporarily enhancing his strength like before to move it.

"Yeah?" Lee asks, looking at Clementine. "What's wrong?"

"Um...what if we leave and my parents come home?" Clementine was obviously worried that her parents would start to freak out if she was gone.

"I'm sure they'll find us, Clem. Don't worry about it. Bruce and I will keep you safe until then, okay?" Lee says in comfort, getting a cute smile out of Clementine.

Bruce finally pushes the gate open and looks at the two. "Let's go."

Lee nods as he and Clementine follow close behind Bruce. Once they get to the front of the house, they see two guys trying to move some cars that were blocking their truck.

"Stay here." Bruce says as he approaches the two, ready for a confrontation. "Hey!" He calls out, startling the two, who identify themselves as Shawn Greene and some guy named Chet.

"We shouldn't be out in the open. Not like this." Shawn says. "We've been trying to move these cars so we can get out of here, but they won't budge an inch. You mind giving us a hand? If you help, I can take you three to my family's farm. You'll be safe there."

Bruce nods as several zombies limp towards them as they begin to attempt to move a car, but even with Clem and Lee helping, it still won't budge. Bruce abandons pushing as he approaches the small zombie group and begins to transform into the Hulk, who makes quick work of the small hostiles, much to the horror of the others, though they keep shoving while Hulk slaughters more zombies, bashing and smashing them with his fists.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Chet asks as the car finally starts to move.

"No idea...but it seems to be on our side!" Shawn says.

"He's so big..." Clementine softly says as the group pushes the car off the road.

"Hey! Big green guy! We're getting out of here! Come on!" Shawn shouts as he starts his truck up.

Hulk growls as he slowly walks towards the group, slowly turning back into Bruce Banner, who groans as he gets into the bed of the truck along with Chet as they speed away, Clementine sneaking one last look at her house before looking down in sadness.

"So...you're a big green monster..." Chet nervously says.

Bruce nods. "Yeah. It's a long story...but I won't hurt you or the others."


	2. Temporary Sanctuary

- **Nighttime** -

 **Greene Farm**

After dropping Chet off, Shawn drives down a long dirt road, arriving at a house with a mailbox marked 'Greene'. Bruce covers himself up with a blanket that he found in the bed of the truck, seeing as how he ripped his shirt to pieces when he transformed. "Here we are. Home sweet home." Shawn says as he gets out, followed by Lee and Clementine, the latter of whom looks at Bruce as he exits the bed of the truck. She was clearly afraid of him to an extent following him Hulking out and fighting the zombies from earlier. As Shawn approached the front porch, a rather rugged looking man that appeared to be in his 50's walks out to greet Shawn, who happens to be the man's son.

"Shawn. Are you alright?" He asked as he hugged him tenderly.

"Yeah, Dad. I'm okay. We ran into some trouble, but we met some new people. They helped us out." Shawn says, motioning towards Lee, Clementine, and Bruce, all of whom waved at the man.

"Hello, there. I'm Hershel. I see you've already met my son Shawn." He says, tapping Shawn on the shoulder.

Lee smiles. "Nice to meet you, Hershel. I'm Lee."

"Pleasure to meet you, Lee." Hershel says as he focuses his attention on Clementine. "Hello, little girl. What's your name?"

"Clementine..." She answers innocently while standing close to Lee.

Hershel smiles before looking at Bruce, noticing that he was lacking a shirt. "You're missing a shirt, friend."

"Yeah...It's kind of a long story, Hershel." Bruce nervously says as he rubs the back of his neck.

"Well, we got all the time in the world now..." Hershel says, noticing Lee's injured leg. "Hmmm...that leg doesn't look so good."

"It doesn't feel so good neither." Lee retorts.

"How did you get that injury? Were you bitten?" Shawn asks.

"No. Car accident. Me and Bruce were headed out of Atlanta when it happened. We hit one of those...things."

"Zombies." Bruce quickly says to correct Lee.

"Yeah. That. A zombie." Lee says with a sigh. "Still can't believe this is really happening..."

"You'll get used to it after a while." Hershel says as he leads Lee over to a swinging bench hanging on the front porch. Lee sits down as Hershel wraps up his injured leg. "There you go. Your leg should be feeling much better by morning."

"Thank you." Lee says in gratitude.

"You're welcome, Lee. You and your friends can sleep in the barn." Hershel says as he points to a barn.

* * *

- **Later** -

 **Barn**

Lee, Bruce and Clementine lay in the barn, needing some much deserved rest. As Lee slumbers, Clementine walks over to Bruce, who was laying on a spare mattress.

"Bruce?" She says innocently.

Bruce looks up at her as he sits up. "Hi, Clementine. You okay?"

Clementine stays silent for a bit before finally nodding. "Back at my house...what was that thing?"

"You mean the Hulk?" He asks, to which Clementine nods again. "It's...really complicated, but I promise you...he's not gonna hurt you."

"He won't?" She asks.

"Of course he won't." He says assuredly. "He loves children."

"Um...can I see him?" Clementine asks, wanting to meet him in person.

"Are you sure, Clem?" Bruce asks, receiving a quick nod from her. He sighs as he takes off his shirt so he doesn't shred it like his last transformation and transforms, looking down at her. " **Hey, kiddo**."

Clementine looks at him as if in a trance before waving.

" **Still scared of me?** " Hulk asks.

"A-A little." She says. "But I'll get used to it."

Hulk smiles as he pets her head as if she was an adorable puppy. " **Don't worry. I'll keep you safe**."

Clementine smiles as she lays down next to him. Hulk smiles as well before laying down and falling asleep.

* * *

- **The Next Day** -

Hulk wakes up, noticing Clementine was gone. He sits up, wondering where she went when he hears Lee. "She's sitting by the front porch. She's fine. So...you're the guy that helped kill those zombies." Lee says as he takes it all in.

" **Yeah**." Hulk says before turning back into Bruce, who puts his shirt back on.

"Does it hurt? When you...turn or whatever?" Lee asks.

Bruce shrugs. "Just a bit. I can handle it, though."

Lee nods in understanding as he and Bruce walk out of the barn and head over to the front porch, finding Clementine sitting next to a middle aged woman with blonde hair.

"Who are you?" Bruce asks the woman, who looks at him.

"I'm Katjaa." The woman says politely before motioning towards a man with a thick mustache and a small boy with a shaved head. "That's my husband Kenny and my son Duck."

"Duck?" Bruce and Lee say in unison, obviously confused as to why they would give their son such a bizarre name.

"He's...overly curious." Kenny says as Duck runs to the other side of the house, where Shawn is busy fortifying the fence to keep zombies out. "Hi. I'm Kenny." He says as he holds his hand out for Lee and Bruce to shake, which they do so.

"Nice to meet you, Kenny." Lee and Bruce said seperately before Hershel asks Lee to help him in the barn, leaving Bruce alone with Kenny.

"So..." Kenny says, breaking the awkward silence. "Hershel's son Shawn tells me you can turn into a big green monster. Killed a bunch of those flesh eating freaks with your bare hands." Kenny says as he does some work on a truck. "Is that true?" He asks.

Bruce nods in answer. "Yeah, Kenny. It is. But I can assure you that I'm not your enemy."

Kenny sighs. "I'm gonna hold you to that, Bruce. But I have a family to protect, so just know if you cause any trouble..." He says in an almost threatening way.

"I understand, Kenny." Bruce says.

* * *

- **Barn** -

Lee watches Hershel move stacks of hay with a pitchfork, who eventually stops and looks at Lee with a suspicious look in his eyes. "I know who you are...what you did."

"What?" Lee asks, feigning innocence.

"You are Lee Everett, convicted of murdering a senator and your wife because you caught them in an act of passion." Hershel says, still holding the pitchfork, which was no doubt making Lee _very_ nervous.

"So what if I am? I'm not a threat to you." Lee says defensively as he crosses his arms.

"Maybe not to me...but you could be a threat to that family...and to that little girl." Hershel says meanly as he tightly clutches the pitchfork.

Suddenly, a loud crash is heard, followed by Shawn screaming. Bruce, Hershel, Kenny and Lee run to the source of the screams. Shawn's leg is stuck under the front wheel of a tractor that Duck was pretending to drive. What's worse is several zombies were approaching the fence.

"Ahhhhh! Help! Ahhhhh!" Shawn screams as he struggles to pull his leg free, but is unable due to the weight of the tractor. Lee and Kenny try to push the tractor, but it won't budge as the zombies lean down and try to bite Shawn. Without a second thought, Bruce takes his shirt off and tosses it to the ground as he begins to transform. Hulk runs towards the fence, punching the zomies as Kenny grabs Duck and runs away from the action, watching in shock and horror. Unfortunately, one of the zombies manages to reach Shawn and bites into his neck, tearing his throat out.

" **No**!" Hulk roars out as he kills the last of the zombies as more arrive, only for them to be shot in the head by Hershel, wielding a rifle.

Paying no attention to Hulk, Hershel runs to his wounded son, who begins to choke on his own blood due to his bite wound. "Don't worry. I'll get you patched up." He whispers into Shawn's ear.

"It's okay, Dad. Bruce saved...me..." Shawn mutters out before dying.

"Get out..." Hershel says softly.

"I'm so sorry..." Kenny says, still holding Duck in his arms.

Hershel stands up and spins around to look at the group. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

Kenny gives Hershel a horrified look. "I'm sorry, Hershel."

Hershel sneers as he walks up to Kenny. "Sorry? _Sorry_?! Your son is alive. You don't _get_ to be sorry. Get out...and never come back!" Hershel says as he turns his back on the group.

Hulk sighs as he picks up Bruce's discarded shirt, looking at Clementine, who lightly smiles at the giant being, showing that she now trusted him. He then turns back into Bruce and puts the shirt on as the group gets into Kenny's truck, heading to Macon, as Lee has family there who could use some help.

* * *

- **Macon, Georgia** -

 **Everett** **Pharmacy**

The group soon arrives in Macon, which is seemingly abandoned. It doesn't take long for a large group of zombies to show up, as one of them trips Duck and tries to bite him, only for Bruce to pull it off of the small boy, his eyes glowing a bright green as he flings the zombie a fair distance as he takes his shirt off again and turns into Hulk as more zombies show up. As Hulk smashes and bashes several zombies, a gunshot is heard, hitting a zombie in the head that was about to bite Hulk from behind. The gamma goliath turns his head, spotting a brunette girl in a white shirt and a black skirt, who proceeds to shoot more zombies and tells the group to get inside the pharmacy. The group does so quickly, with Hulk being the last one to enter while holding Clementine in his arms as a somewhat chubby teenage boy closes a gate around the front entrance and lock it with a small padlock before entering the pharmacy with the others.


	3. Friendships and Hostilities

- **Everett Pharmacy** -

Hulk and his group scatter into the pharmacy as they listen to the zombies pressing themselves against the metal gate surrounding the front door of the pharmacy as well as the wooden barricades covering the windows. A rather large man and a smaller, slim woman start yelling at the group while Hulk stays close to Clementine, watching Katjaa clean the zombie blood off of Duck, hoping that he wasn't bitten.

"That was so stupid! Firing that thing off! You could've gotten us all killed, you trigger happy bitch!" The large man yells at the woman that helped the group.

"Well, at least I'm actually contributing to the group instead of bitching and moaning about everything around me, fatass!" The girl retorts bluntly.

Hulk lightly smirks at how blunt the girl is. " ** _I like her_**..." He says internally as he watches the girl continue to make the large man look pathetic.

"Hulk..." Clementine softly whispers as she tugs on Hulk's finger.

Hulk looks down at Clementine. " **What is it**?" He whispers.

"I've gotta go to the bathroom..." She says gently as she continues to hold his hand.

Hulk manages to sneak away from the arguing group members as he escorts Clementine to the bathroom. " **Go ahead. I'll be right here**." He says assuredly as Clementine enters, shutting the door behind her. As he waited, he noticed the large man approaching Duck. Not wasting a second, Hulk stood between him and Duck. " **Get**... **away from him, hippo**." He says threateningly, his right fist clenched and ready for a fight.

"You don't know what you're doing, you monster. He's been bitten!" The large man says.

"He's not bitten! This isn't his blood!" Katjaa yells as she checks Duck to see if he's been bitten or not.

"You'll find a bite, lady! Then he'll turn and kill all of us!" He says.

"What the hell you talking about?!" Lee asks.

"If you get bit, you die! Then you come back as one of those _freaks_!" The large man says in answer as he gets closer to Duck, only for Hulk to lightly push him back.

" **That was a light shove, asshole. You want to see what a punch can do to your ugly mug**?" When the man doesn't answer, Hulk scoffs. " **That's what I thought. Keep away from the boy and my group**... **or you're a dead man walking**... **for two seconds before I tear your head off**."

"Ahhh!" A scream was heard. It was Clementine. She runs out of the restroom as two zombies crawl after her. Hulk kills the first zombie, crushing its head underfoot, while the girl shoots the other one in the head, killing it.

"That's the second time I've had to save your life.." The girl says.

" **Better not make it a habit**." Hulk remarks with a smile, which the girl returns with a smile of her own.

However, the light flirtations are interrupted by even more zombies attempting to get inside the pharmacy, forcing the group to keep quiet.

"They're gonna get in...!" The man whispers.

" **Shut**... **up**...!" Hulk says in response as the groaning and moaning eventually fades. " **Sounds like they moved on**."

"That was stupid! You dumb bitch! You could've gotten us-Ahhhh!" The large man says before collapsing onto the floor, clutching his chest.

"Dad!" The slim woman cries out as she runs to him.

"Was he infected?" Lee asks while Hulk hold Clementine in his arms and walks over to the rest of the group.

"No, it's his heart. We've been trying to get to the medicine behind the counter, but it's locked." The girl says.

" **I can get in there**." Hulk says, only for Lee to interrupt him. This pharmacy was important to Lee, and didn't want it to get more damaged than it already was.

"Hulk, no. This place...it has suffered enough. Let's do this the old way. Find the key. It's most likely on an orderly."

" **Rrrr**... **okay**." Hulk says lowly, still holding Clementine like a baby.

"Hulk...I'm hungry." She says cutely.

"Uh, there's some protein bars on the shelves around here." Lee says, overhearing what Clementine said. "Hopefully they're still fresh after all this."

Hulk nods as he sets Clementine down and hands her a protein bar, which she eats with a smile on her face.

"It tastes so good." She says as she breaks a small piece off of the bar and hands it to Hulk, who smiles as he accepts the piece and eats it.

Elsewhere in the pharmacy, the girl that helped the group get inside is talking with a Korean boy, who heads out to a nearby motor inn to find supplies. After that, Hulk walks over to the girl, who smiles at the giant being.

"Hi." She says with a smile as she operates a battery powered radio, though it had no batteries in it.

" **Hello there. So, you gonna tell me your name? Given that you saved my life twice**... **I think it's only fair I know the name of my rescuer**." Hulk says as he grins playfully.

The woman chuckles. "I guess you have a point. I'm Carley."

Hulk smiles. " **What a pretty name**... **Um, I'm Hulk**."

Carley smiles. "It's nice to meet you, Hulk. At least I now know your name."

" **Yeah. Um, who was that guy? The one that just left**?" Hulk asks.

"Hmm? Oh, that was Glenn. He's heading to a motor inn nearby to get some supplies. If there's any left, that is. Heh." Carley says, lightly chuckling.

* * *

- **Later** -

As Hulk and Carley keep chatting, Clementine's walkie talkie goes off, Glenn's voice being heard on the other end.

"Hey, little girl. Um, I've run into a little trouble, so could you put your dad, or...the big green guy on the phone. Or walkie, whatever?" Glenn asks.

"Um, okay." Clementine politely says as she walks over to Hulk and tugs on his shorts to get his attention.

" **Clem? You okay**?" Hulk asks as he gets on one knee, leveling his eyes to hers.

"Um, someone named Glenn wants to talk to you..." Clementine says as she hands him the tiny walkie talkie, which he holds very delicately.

"Yeah?" Hulk asks.

"Hi, big man. Yeah, um...I need your help. I'm at the motor inn. There's walkers everywhere, and I'm kinda trapped here." Glenn says with a hushed voice.

" **Walkers**?" Hulk asks, confused by Glenn's phrasing.

"Yeah, walkers. You know, those creepy things out there. Well, that's what I call them. Anyway, I need help, pronto." Glenn says.

Hulk sighs as he looks at Clementine before putting his mouth to the walkie talkie. " **Alright. I'm on my way**."

"Oh, and bring Carley with you. She's very good with that gun. Trust me on that." Glenn adds.

Hulk chuckles as he hangs up and looks at Clementine, handing the walkie talkie back to her. " **Hey, Clem. Me and Carley are gonna be out for a bit-** " Hulk began to say, only for Clementine to interrupt him.

"No! Don't leave! Don't leave me!" Clementine begs as she hugs his leg.

" **Clem**... **Lee will keep you and the others safe until we get back. Glenn, the kid I just spoke to, he's in trouble, and we have to go save him. We'll be back before you know it."**

"Promise?" Clementine asks, still clutching his leg.

" **I promise. We'll be careful**." Hulk says assuredly, which makes her let go of him.

As Hulk kneels down again, Clementine wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him. "Please...Please don't die like Shawn..."

" **I promise you that I, or anyone else here will not end up like him**." Hulk says as he gently hugs her.

Clementine nods slightly as she slowly lets go. Hulk sighs as he stands up straight and looks at Carley.

"Ready?" Carley asks, to which Hulk simply nods. "Let's go." She says as Hulk and her leave.

* * *

- **Motor Inn** -

Hulk and Carley walk towards the motor inn, occasionally stopping to kill walkers every now and then.

"So...you can drop walkers with a single punch..." Carley said, obviously impressed by Hulk's skills as a zombie killer.

" **Yep. I'll gladly kill every one of them if it means keeping Clementine safe. And you**." Hulk says softly as they arrive, since several walkers can be seen lumbering around.

"You really care about that little girl, don't you?" Carley whispers.

Hulk nods as the two hide behind a car so the walkers don't see them. As they sit, a sound can be heard coming from an icebox. As the two look towards the source of the sound, the icebox door opens, revealing Glenn.

Carley lets out a hushed, exasperated groan. "Glenn? What are you doing? I thought you were looking for supplies?"

Glenn hustles over to the two. "I was. But there's a problem."

"I don't care. Let's get out of here...!" Carley argues.

"There's a girl up there." Glenn argues back.

"A girl?" Carley and Hulk say in unison.

"She's up there. She's crying, saying she wants help. I'm not leaving until we help her." Glenn says, clearly intent on helping the girl.

Carley sighs in annoyance, realizing there was no way to convince Glenn to abandon the girl. "Fine. Let's go save your damsel in distress..." She says as she holds out her handgun.

The trio sneak across the parking lot of the motor inn, though Hulk does most of the work, since Carley using her gun would only attract more walkers. Glenn and Carley watch in awe as Hulk kills the walkers with no effort whatsoever, punching and smashing the walkers with his fists. Hulk turns his back on the walkers he killed, unaware of a spare walker with a bad ankle approaching him. Reacting quickly, Carley grabs a discarded fire axe and runs at the walker, driving the blade into the walker's skull, killing it.

"That's three now." Carley remarks with a chuckle, followed by Hulk doing the same.

" **Keeping a list now**?" Hulk teasingly asks.

Carley nods. "I am. Starting _now_."

"I hate to interrupt your little playful banter, but can we please save the girl so we can get out of here?" Glenn asks impatiently. Hulk and Carley nod as they prepare to head upstairs, only for Hulk to stay downstairs, as the platform is highly unstable and his weight would surely make it collapse. Glenn hears crying behind a door as two more walkers try to get in, only to meet a nasty end by Carley's axe.

"Hang on! We're here to help!" Carley says as she hands the axe to Glenn, who chops at a 2x4 holding the door shut. Gun in hand, Carley pushes the door open, revealing a girl with sickly looking skin, a bite wound on her upper arm.

"You can't help me...I'm already dead...The same thing happened to my boyfriend when he got bit..." The girl says solemnly.

"You have a boyfriend?" Glenn asks with a sad expression.

"Glenn...!" Carley says, now holding her gun, which the girl sees.

"You...have a gun..." The girl says creepily.

"Yeah. What about it?" Carley asks, tightening her grip on it.

"Can I borrow it?" She asks.

"What?!" Glenn asks, horrified by what she asked.

"No way!" Carley yells.

"Please! Just for a second! One second...and I'll be with my boyfriend. It's not Christian...turning into one of those things...!" The girl says before lunging forward, grabbing Carley and tussling with her for her gun, causing the unstable platform to collapse, barely giving Hulk time to move out of the way. Carley and Glenn groan as they hit the hard pavement, not noticing the girl picking up Carley's gun.

" **Huh? Who's she**?" Hulk asks as she looks at the woman.

"She's been bitten..." Carley groans as she slowly stands up.

"It'll all be over soon..." The woman tells herself as she points the gun to her head.

" **Wait**!" Hulk shouts as he runs towards the girl, only for her to pull the trigger, her body falling to the ground. " **No**..."

Glenn looks at the ground, saddened by what just occurred. Carley sighs as she picks up her gun. "Let's get back to the pharmacy..." Hulk nods while Glenn doesn't respond at all as the trio walk down the road back to the pharmacy.


	4. Can't Save Everyone

- **Everett Pharmacy** -

Hulk, Glenn and Carley return to the pharmacy, though the girl that shot herself is still on their minds. Clementine sees Hulk and smiles as she runs to him, hugging his leg.

"Hulk! I knew you'd be back!" She says with joy as she keeps hugging his leg.

" **Heh. It's gonna take a lot more than a few walkers to take me down**." Hulk remarks.

Carley smiles as she watches Hulk and Clementine. "He really cares about that girl..." She says, unaware that Glenn heard her say that.

"I'm just glad to be somewhere safer than an icebox." Glenn says.

Lee walks over to Hulk and Clementine, happy to see his friend return unscathed. "Glad to see you made it back here in one piece."

Hulk nods as he smiles at Clementine. " **Yeah**."

"Clementine missed you like crazy." Lee says.

" **Oh, I know. I missed her too**." Hulk says, petting Clementine like a puppy. " **You get to those pills yet**?"

"No. We can't find the keys." Lee says.

Hulk sighs. " **Well, like you said, maybe they're on someone**."

"Hopefully not one one of those things..." Lee responds, hoping the keys weren't on one of the walkers outside. After saying that, he heads to a back room with Clementine.

* * *

- **Back Room** -

Lee and Clementine enter a room with barricaded windows with a desk and a wood pallet blocking the door to the room holding the pills that Larry needs. Lee notices some blood on the floor, next to a mattress, clearly indicating that someone was living in there.

"My God..." Lee mutters in horror. "They couldn't have died in here..." He adds, fearing that his parents might've died...or worse.

"What happened in here, Lee?" Clementine asks.

"Something bad, Clem. Something bad..." Lee says as he approaches a desk, noticing a photo of him with his father and brother. He picks it up and looks at it with a saddened expression. Lee sighs as he approaches the barricaded door. "We should focus on moving this stuff out of the way so we can open the door...once we find the keys."

"Okay. Can I help?" Clementine asks.

Lee smiles. "Sure. You can help." He says as he moves the wooden pallet out of the way. "Be careful. Don't get your fingers caught on the drawers." He warns as he and Clementine slowly move the desk out of the way.

"What happened to your family?" Clementine asks, breaking the silence.

Lee stops moving the desk and looks at Clementine. "They're dead..."

"I'm sorry..." Clementine immediately says, feeling bad for bringing it up.

"You didn't know, Clem. Not your fault." He says as the two finally move the desk out of the way.

As Clementine sits on the desk, Carley enters and walks up behind Lee. "Find anything?" She asks, making Lee slowly turn around.

"Uh, just...a photo of the people that own the place." Lee says, pocketing the photo.

"I know who you are." Carley says bluntly. "You're Lee Everett. You killed your wife because you caught her sleeping with a senator. You were convicted, but you never made it to lockup because of all this."

"I'm not your enemy." Lee retorts.

"Maybe not. But you're a murderer, and that's a skill that might come in handy. But if there comes a time when you might be a problem for the others...I won't hesitate to put you down."

"I won't let myself be a problem." Lee says.

"Then we're cool...until proven otherwise." Carley says as she turns around and leaves the room.

* * *

- **Main Pharmacy Area** -

Lee and Clementine leave the back room and enter the main area, rejoining the rest of the group. As Clementine walks over to Hulk, who stood next to Duck, Lee walks over to the somewhat chubby young man, Doug, who stood by the front door.

"Hey. I'm Doug." He said, introducing himself to Lee.

"Lee. Nice to meet you."

"I was about to check to see how things are outside." Doug says nervously.

"Really?" Lee asks, thinking Doug must be crazy to want to be so close to the walkers.

"Yeah. The gate will keep us safe." Doug says, to which Lee nods as the two head out.

* * *

- **Outside** -

Lee and Doug sit behind the gate safely as the walkers lumber around, moaning and groaning. Lee notices a dead body leaned against a wall of a neighboring building, pinned by a downed telephone pole. Lee pulls out the photo he pocketed earlier and looks at it. The body is wearing the same uniform as his brother.

"No..." Lee says sorrowfully, realizing the body is that of his brother.

"What is it?" Doug asks, hearing Lee. "What's wrong, Lee?"

"The keys to the counter...they're on that body. The one that's pinned by that pole."

"How do you know that?" Doug asks, unsure about Lee's claim until he shows the picture to Doug.

"The man in the picture...the man trapped by that pole...he's my brother." Lee says sorrowfully.

"Oh, God...I'm really sorry, Lee." Doug says, feeling genuine sadness for Lee and the loss of his brother.

Lee then runs back inside, noticing the axe she used at the motor inn. He grabs it and goes back outside before using it to break the lock and covertly sneak past the walkers, who Doug distracted by using several TV's.

"Hey, Bud." Lee softly says as he stands over the body of his brother, only for the body to groan and start to move; he had become a walker like the others. Bud reaches for Lee to attack him, but due to the way he was pinned, he couldn't reach him. "I'm so sorry this happened to you. I don't know what happened to mom and dad, but you must've been there to protect them. I'm happy you were here for them."

"Did you get the keys yet?" Doug whispers to Lee, not wanting the walkers to hear him.

"Give me a minute..." Lee sharply whispers back. "I'm so sorry, Bud..." He softly says as he raises the axe over his head before slamming it blade first into Bud's neck over and over before driving the blade into his forehead, finally putting him out of his misery for good. Lee gives the body of his former brother a sad look as he grabs the keys off of his corpse.

Doug smiles upon seeing the keys in Lee's hand. "You got 'em. Shit! Walkers!" He shouts, as the walkers have turned around and growl as they stumble towards the two. They quickly enter the pharmacy, which would only keep them safe for a while, as the gate in front of the door couldn't be locked anymore.

* * *

- **Inside** -

Lee and Doug enter with horrified expressions on their faces. Lee then approaches Lilly, who slowly stands up and looks at him.

"I got the keys." Lee says, holding the ring of keys up so she can see them.

"Great! I knew you'd get them!" Lilly says happily, now knowing her father would live to see another day. Lee leads Lilly to the back room and unlocks the door to the medicine counter. Right as this happens, loud banging could be heard, indicating the walkers were starting to get inside.

"Shit! We better hurry!" Lee says urgently as he and Lilly run in and look for the nitroglycerin pills that Larry needs.

The two manage to find the required pills and return to the main group, who are frantically grabbing whatever they can as they prepare to leave.

"Once they get in, you better be right behind us, or you're done for!" Carley loudly says as she loads her gun.

"I don't plan on dilly dallying! Katjaa! Grab Duck and get ready to run!" Kenny says. "Lee, I'm gonna need that axe in case I run into any of them on my way to the truck."

Lee nods as he tosses the axe to Kenny, who catches it and runs outside to get his truck.

"That gate's not locked anymore!" Doug yells out as Carley cocks her gun, ready for a fight.

Hulk clenches his fists, ready for a fight while Clementine clutches his leg. " **Stay close, Clementine**." He says calmly as the front doors are suddenly forced open, though it's pushed shut by the combined efforts of Glenn, Lee and Doug.

"We can hold them! Lee says with a strained tone. Suddenly, the wooden panels on one of the windows starts to shift out of place as numerous walkers try to get in.

"Lee, the window!" Doug yells.

"Go! We got this!" Lee says as he and Glenn keep the doors shut. Doug nods as he pushes his back against the wooden panel, keeping it in place. "Clem, find something to jam against the door! Something strong, okay?!"

After a few seconds, Clementine has an idea. "Wait!" She says as she runs into the back room and comes back with Lee's father's cane. Lee takes it and uses it to jam the door together, keeping the walkers from entering.

However, things got worse, as several walkers latched onto Doug in an effort to pull him outside while a walker latched onto Carley's leg, keeping her from retrieving a spare clip for her gun. Without wasting a second, Lee ran over to help Doug while Hulk ran to Carley's aid, crushing her walker's skull with his massive foot. Unfortunately, as hard as Lee tried, he couldn't save Doug; there were too many walkers pulling on him. Doug was suddenly pulled out of Lee's hands and he landed on the street outside as the walkers began to tear into and devour the helpless Doug.

"No!" Lee cries out as Doug screams in agony before he gurgles on his own blood.

"Oh, God...!" Carley screams at Doug's demise as Lee runs to the back entrance, only to be stopped by Larry.

"You're not coming with us, you son of a bitch!" He says before punching Lee in the face, knocking him to the ground. As a walker crawls towards him, Kenny runs back in and slays the walker with his axe.

"I'm not letting anyone else die today." Kenny says he helps Lee stand up. "Especially not a friend." He says as he and Lee run out the door, followed by Hulk and Carley, the former of which is holding Clementine is his arms.

* * *

- **Later** -

 **Motor Inn**

Several minutes later, the group arrives at the motor inn and start to get settled in, though Carley seems to be going through a stage of depression after what happened to Doug. Hulk, still holding Clementine, walks over to Carley.

" **Hey**." Hulk softly says, getting Carley to look at him. " **You okay**?"

Carley doesn't answer for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Honestly...I don't know, Hulk. I mean, Doug...I didn't know him that much, but...I trusted him, maybe even liked him. But I never told him, and now he's dead..."

" **He was still your friend**." Hulk says.

"I just wish he was here with us right now..." Carley adds.

" **You can't save everyone, kid**." Hulk says, lightly touching her shoulder. " **I didn't know him either**... **but he'd want you to keep moving. To survive like the rest of us**."

Carley nods. "You're probably right."

Glenn is standing next to a car, listening to an emergency broadcast until Lee walks over. "Seems like it's worse everywhere than it is here. I have friends in Atlanta. I have to warn them, Lee. Otherwise they're dead, and I can't stand to let anyone else I care about die."

"Go, then. If you got people that need you, go to them." Lee says sincerely.

"Really?" Glenn asks, hoping Lee is sure about his choice.

"Go. We'll be okay." Lee says. Glenn nods as he gets in his car and drives off.

"Okay. We have a minimal supply of a few days worth of food and other stuff that we managed to get from the pharmacy. Maybe if we block these driveways with some of these abandoned cars, we could make this place safer. Maybe call it home." Kenny says.

" **That could actually work**." Hulk says as Clementine clutches his large digit.

"Yeah. That's some good thinking, Kenny." Lee adds.

"Don't worry. We're gonna be just fine..." Kenny says as the electricity to the motor inn suddenly dies, leaving the group in the dark.

* * *

- **Author's Note** -

 **I couldn't decide on keeping Doug alive or not, so I decided to stay in canon. I also used Bud for the name of Lee's brother as his actual name was seemingly never revealed.**


	5. Management and Survival

- **3 Months Later** -

 **Forest**

Lee and some guy named Mark are wandering through the forest. Lee is carrying his axe while Mark is holding a rifle. Lee sneaks up on a walker and slams the axe downward, killing the walker.

"Ugh! What'd it get?" Mark asks in disgust.

"Looks like a rabbit..." Lee says unsuredly as he looks at a gnawed up animal carcass that the walker fed on.

"Damn. There goes another meal." Mark says in defeat as the two men keep wandering the woods. "Food seems to be getting more and more scarce every single day now. You know...I'll never forget how you, Hulk and Lilly saved me from that commissary store a month back. I was overrun, practically dead when I see Hulk punching and slamming walkers while you and Lilly sniped more of them. I was so grateful for what you guys did."

"Heh. As you've made that clear over and over." Lee replies.

"I've pulled my weight, Lee. Got you a crate of food. Now there's barely anything left." Mark says sadly.

"We'll find a way to get by, Mark." Lee says in a calm, assuring way.

Suddenly, a loud scream can be heard. Lee and Mark run towards the sound, coming across a man, whose foot is stuck in a bear trap while Kenny stands guard, holding a rifle. Two younger men stand near the crippled man.

"Please don't hurt us." One of them begs nervously.

"Don't worry. We won't hurt you." Lee says assuredly as Mark inspects the bear trap. "At least I hope not..." He mumbles to himself.

"Lee, this trap's been tampered with. There's no release latch." Mark says.

"Shit! Walkers!" Kenny yells out, spotting several walkers slowly approaching.

"Keep them off us while we deal with this, Kenny!" Lee shouts as he inspects the trap.

Kenny nods as he fires at the walkers, downing one with each shot. "Whatever you're doing, better do it fast!" He says urgently as more walkers appear out of the shrubbery.

Lee inspects the chain attached to the trap and hits it with his axe, but it doesn't even leave a nick. "Lee, those chains are too thick for that axe! Try something different!" Mark shouts as Lee suddenly realizes the only way to free the man- to amputate his foot.

"Oh, shit..." Lee whispers to himself as he raises the axe over the man's trapped foot.

"No. No, no, no, no! Please don't!" The man says, realizing what Lee was about to do.

"I'm so sorry..." Lee says with great sincerity as he swings the axe down hard, cutting deeply into his leg.

"Ahhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhh!" The man screams as he clutches his leg.

"Holy shit!" One of the young men exclaims in horror as Lee chops again.

"Lee, hurry! I'm almost out of ammo!" Kenny shouts as he continues to kill more walkers. Lee repeatedly chops until the man's leg is completely severed.

"Ahhhhh!" The man screams as he passes out.

"Oh, my God! Is he dead?!" Ben, one of the younger men, asks in distress.

"No. He just passed out from blood loss." Mark says. "Lee, pick him up and let's get out of here."

Lee nods as he picks up the unconscious amputee. "Kenny!" He calls out as he and Mark run away from the still approaching walkers. However, Travis falls behind, and gets overwhelmed and devoured by walkers.

* * *

- **Motor Inn** -

Several members of the group go about their daily lives, with Clementine and Bruce lightly kicking a soccer ball against a steel barrel, Duck is drawing, Larry is constructing a wall, and Lilly is standing guard, sitting in a chair on top of an RV that the group found at some point. Lilly hears some shrubbery rustle, so she whistles, getting everyone to stop what they're doing as Lee, Kenny, Mark and their new 'friends' run into view.

"Open the gate!" Lee shouts.

"You've gotta be shitting me!" Lilly exclaims as Larry pulls the gate open, letting them in. "What the hell, Lee?! You can't just bring these people in here! We don't know them!"

"They were in trouble! We couldn't just leave them out there to die!" Lee argues as he lays the crippled man on the bed of a truck.

"Besides, they could help us!" Kenny adds, joining the conversation.

"We've got enough people in our group already, Kenny! We used to have months worth of food, but now...we barely have enough to last a week!" Lilly retorts, not noticing Bruce as he walks over.

"Yeah! We don't need them! Kick them out of here!" Larry says in agreement.

"No! Please don't! We won't make it out there! Not on our own!" Ben pleads.

"No way. We can't trust you!" Lilly says to him.

Bruce sighs in annoyance as he transforms, hoping to sort this out. " **Oh, shut up, Lilly! Nobody asked you to be the leader! Plus, you don't do shit to help! You just sit in that stupid chair and when something bothers you, you just bitch and moan about it! Do us a favor: SHUT UP**!" Hulk roars out, making Lilly and Larry clamp their mouths shut in fear.

"C-Can I just say one thing?" Lilly shakes in fear as she asks Hulk, who nods. "I'm done rationing food. You guys think you can do better? Be my guest. But there isn't enough for everybody." Lilly says as she hands several food items to Hulk and Lee.

* * *

- **Later** -

Hulk and Lee stand next to each other, trying to decide who will get food and who will go hungry. Needless to say...it's a difficult decision. The two sigh as they look at the rest of the group, who are just doing what they were doing before Ben was brought in.

"So, who gets food?" Lee asks, to which Hulk shrugs his shoulders.

" **Hmmm**... **obviously Clem, Duck, and Carley**." Hulk says.

"Well, sure. But...what about Kenny and his family?" Lee asks.

Hulk nods. " **Them too, if there's enough to spare**."

Lee nods as well. "Okay. Looks like we know who gets fed."

" **Yep**." Hulk says before the two split up to distribute their food to the people they chose. Hulk smiles as he approaches Carley.

"Hulk. Hi." She says as she looks up at him and smiles sweetly. She was always happy to see him, no matter what was going on.

" **Hey**." Hulk says as he holds out a candy bar for her to take.

"For me?" She asks, getting a nod of confirmation from Hulk. "No. Hulk, I can't accept this. You need to eat too."

" **I can literally go for days without food, C. I'll be fine. You need it, not me. Take it**." He says with sincerity. Carley smiles as she takes it. Hulk then walks over to Clementine, who is drawing alongside Duck. He kneels down and smiles at Clementine, who smiles back.

"Hi, Hulk." She says cutely as she sits on her feet.

Hulk smiles as he holds an apple out for her to eat. " **Here. You need this more than I do**."

"I love apples. Y-You sure you don't need it?" She asks, to which Hulk shakes his head in answer.

" **I'll be fine, Clem**." Hulk says assuredly as Clementine takes a bite out of the apple. He then notices her hat is mising. " **Where's your hat**?"

"I don't know. It's been missing for a few days. You think you can find it for me? My parents gave it to me."

" **I'll keep an eye out, Clem**." Hulk says with a smile.

"Thank you." Clementine says sweetly.

* * *

- **Later** -

Minutes pass as the teacher has stopped breathing. The group huddles around the body as Katjaa tries to revive him, only for the body to rise as a walker, much to everyone's horror. It grabs Katjaa and tries to bite into her skull, only for Hulk to separate the two before punching the newly turned walker, brutally crushing its skull, killing it.

" **You okay**?" Hulk asks, looking at Katjaa, who is panting heavily out of shock.

"Y-Yes. Thank you.." She says gratefully, to which Hulk nods.

"What the hell was that?!" Lilly exclaims. "You could've gotten one of us killed!"

"He wasn't bitten!" Kenny yells.

"Then how do you explain this, coming back to life and trying to eat your wife?!" Larry retorts as the group focuses their attention on Ben.

"What?" Ben asks.

"You knew this would happen, didn't you?" Kenny asks.

"No! I didn't-!" Ben says, only to be interrupted by Kenny.

"My wife almost died, and you expect me to believe you?!"

"Wait...you don't know, do you?" Ben asks without skipping a beat.

" **Know what, kid**?" Hulk asks, crossing his arms.

"It...It's not the bite that does it. You come back no matter how you die. If you don't destroy the brain, that's just what happens. We all come back as one of those things..." Ben says sorrowfully.

"You mean, we're all infected?" Lee asks, getting a nod of confirmation from Ben.

As the whole group, Hulk included, stands silent in shock, the rustling of bushes can be heard as two men walk into view, one of whom was carrying an empty barrel of gas.

"Hello there!" One of the men says, only for Carley to point her gun at them. "Whoa!"

"Don't shoot!" The other man says. "We don't want any trouble!" He says before shouting in shock upon seeing Hulk. "What the hell is that?!"

"He's with us. Try anything stupid...and he'll tear you apart." Carley says, to which Hulk secretly grins.

"O-Okay. We won't. We swear. Um, I'm Andy St. John, and this here is my brother Dan. We..own a dairy farm a few miles down the road. We were wondering if you had any gas?" Andy asks.

"What do you need gas for?" Lee asks.

"Our dairy is protected by an electric fence. It's powered by some generators...The generators run on fuel." Dan says in answer. "We were hoping you could spare a few gallons in exchange for whatever you guys need. Medicine, clothes, food."

"Food!" Lilly blurts out. "We need more food. We're practically out of it."

Andy nods. "Deal."

"Some of us will come with you; see if this dairy is everything you say it is." Carley says.

"I assure you...we got nothing to hide." Dan says as Hulk, Carley, Lee and Ben leave the motor inn and follow the St. John's to their farm.


	6. People Are Food Too

- **Road** -

Hulk, Carley, Lee and Ben follow Andy and Dan down the long road that will lead to their dairy farm, according to them. While everyone else is sure about this, Hulk can't help but feel suspicious about the whole thing, which Carley takes notice of.

"Hulk? You okay?" Carley asks in concern.

" **Hmm**?" Hulk asks, looking down at Carley as they walk.

"You have this look on your face that...shows that something's bothering you." She says.

" **I just...feel like something's up**." Hulk stutters. " **Like...those two are hiding something**."

"Hate to say it, but I agree with you. Best to keep an eye on them, huh?" Carley asks in a hushed voice so Dan and Andy can't hear them. Hulk nods in answer to her question.

A few minutes later, the group arrives at the dairy farm, noticing a makeshift electric fence. Upon reaching the front porch, a middle-aged woman walks outside from the house to greet them, though like others, is startled by Hulk's appearance.

"Ahh!" The woman hollers in response to Hulk, though Andy and Dan quickly tell her that Hulk is friendly.

"Oh, it's okay, Momma." Andy says. The big guy here is part of a group. They gave us some gas in exchange for some food."

"T-They're giving us gas? Oh, our prayers have been answered!" The woman exclaims joyfully.

"Everybody, this is our momma." Andy says.

"I'm Brenda St. John. Welcome to the St. John Dairy." She says kindly.

"Thank you." Lee says with a smile. "Um, me and my group, we're all very hungry."

"Oh, you poor things. Don't you worry. I'll make a big feast tonight, make sure you and your friends get what you need." Brenda says as she heads back into the house with Dan.

"I'll head back to the motel to get the others." Carley says.

" **You're going...alone**?" Hulk asks, uncomfortable about Carley walking down the road by herself, even if she had a gun with her.

"Hulk, I'll be fine. I have a gun, remember?" Carley says assuredly.

" **Sure...but noise attracts walkers, remember**?" Hulk says as he crosses his arms.

"The big guy does have a point, Carley." Lee says, butting into the conversation.

Carley sighs. "How about this: I'll take Ben with me. If I run into trouble that I can't get out of, I'll call out. Okay, Hulk?"

As much as Hulk hated Carley being apart from him, he didn't want to argue, so he sighs and uncrosses his arms. " **Okay. Just be careful**."

"I will. Thank you." Carley says with a smile as she leaves with Ben.

"Hulk, Mark, Lee." Andy calls out, getting the attention of the aforementioned individuals. "I noticed a couple of walkers snagged on our electric fence out there. Would you boys mind heading out there and getting them off the fence so they don't knock it down?"

Mark and Lee nod while Hulk grunts in answer. "Uh, that means yes." Mark jokingly says. "Don't worry. We'll get right on it. Just...don't turn the fence on while we're out there."

"Will do. See you boys in a bit." Andy says.

* * *

- **Later** -

Before Hulk, Lee and Mark leave, Lee notices a broken swing and approaches Andy.

"Hey, Andy. Why's this swing broken?" Lee asks.

"Oh. It's always been like that. I've been meaning to fix it, but...never had the time, I guess."

"Let me see what I can do." Lee says as he approaches some 2x4's and cuts through one with a handsaw. With a little help from Hulk, Lee fixes the swing.

* * *

- **Exterior Electric Fence** -

Hulk, Mark and Lee walk along the fence, removing several charred walkers from the fence.

" **Ugh, charred walkers. Nasty**." Hulk comments as he easily pulls the lifeless corpses off the fence without much problem.

"Man, I wish I was as strong as you." Mark says. "Then nobody would challenge us."

" **Hmm. Sorry, kid**." Hulk sarcastically says.

"Hopefully the St. John's will have more than enough food for everyone, plus themselves." Lee says.

"We need food, they need gas." Mark adds.

" **Everyone needs something**..." Hulk mumbles as he prices more walkers off the fence before moving to the other side of the fence to dispose of one more Walker body, being joined by Lee and Mark, who push the fence back up, only for it to turn on without warning.

"What the hell?!" Mark exclaims.

"Why the hell's the fence on? Andy must know we're still out here!" Lee says.

" **Apparently he doesn't know**..." Hulk mumbles.

Right as Hulk says this, a crossbow bolt flies into Mark's back. "Ahhh!"

" **Mark**!" Hulk cries out.

"What the hell?!" Lee exclaims as more crossbow bolts fly through the air, narrowly missing the trio until one of them hits Hulk in the chest.

" **Argh**!" Hulk growls in pain as he swiftly pulls it out, his injury healing almost instantly. " ** _Good thing I heal quickly_**." He says to himself as Lee and Mark take cover behind a tractor. Hulk sees some men firing at them with crossbows and roars. As Mark and Lee take cover by a grain silo near a gate by the electric fence, Hulk lifts a nearby tractor, getting shot several more times in the chest and legs by the bandits before tossing the tractor at them, killing four of the attackers, making the rest of them retreat.

"This ain't over, assholes!" One of the bandits yells.

" **Shut up!** " Hulk roars out as he pulls the crossbow bolts out of his body, groaning as his wounds heal. He then looks over at Lee and Mark and runs alongside them as they head back to the St. John's house.

* * *

- **St. John House** -

Hulk keeps a lookout as Lee helps Mark back to the house, making sure none of the bandits followed them. Luckily for them, they were in the clear; no bandits in sight.

"Brenda! We need help!" Lee calls out. Within seconds, Brenda runs out of the house and gasps upon seeing Mark, who had an arrow in his shoulder.

"Oh, my lord! What happened to you?!"

" **Some jerks shot at us**." Hulk says. " **With arrows, of all things**." He says as Brenda notices an arrow stuck in his left shoulder.

"You've been shot too. I-In your shoulder." Brenda says, directing Hulk's attention to the arrow.

" **Huh? Oh, pffft. That's nothing**." Hulk scoffs as he pulls it out, grunting slightly as his wound heals instantly, much to the shock of everyone present.

"H-How are you doing that?" Lee asks.

" **What, healing**?" Hulk asks, getting a nod from Lee. " **I heal quickly**."

"That'd come in...r-real handy right now.." Mark groans as he clutches his shoulder in pain. "Ahhh, this really hurts."

Hulk then sees the rest of the group walk into view from the motor inn. He was happy to see Carley as well as Clementine, but he turns his attention to the injured Mark as Carley gasps.

"Oh, my God! Mark, what happened?!" Carley asks.

"Mark hit shot with an arrow!" Lee says.

"I thought you said this place was safe!" Lilly says to Carley angrily.

" **Leave her be, brat**!" Hulk roars out, silencing Lilly.

"Bandits." Andy says, receiving looks of confusion from everyone.

"Wait. You knew those whack jobs were out there this whole time?!" Kenny exclaims. "We have kids, for god's sake!"

" **Really could've used that info earlier when we were helping out**..." Hulk growls.

"W-We made a deal with the bandits a long time ago. We would give them food every now and then."

" **What do the bandits give _you_**?" Hulk asks, crossing his arms judgmentally.

"In return...the bandits won't attack us." Dan says.

" **Until today**." Hulk remarks.

"Guys, I promise...the bandits will pay for this!" Andy says.

"Do you know where they are?" Lee asks.

"Um...I don't know where they are specifically, but I know where one of their camps are. It's not far from here. Me and Lee can go check it out in a bit." Dan says, to which Lee nods.

" **What about me**?" Hulk asks, noticing Clementine walk over to him. " **What's my job**?"

"I think Lee and I can handle a few psychos with crossbows. You should stay here, big guy. Protect the others until we get back." Dan says.

Hulk growls in annoyance. " **So I'm a babysitter now**?"

Brenda approaches Mark. "Come into the house, young man. I'll take good care of you..." She says as she escorts Mark into the house.

* * *

- **Later** -

After that, Hulk stands outside with Clementine while Duck plays on the swing that Lee fixed with minimal assistance from Hulk himself. Lee and Andy walk out of the house, rifles in their hands as they walk into the woods.

"I hope they'll be okay..." Clementine says, scared for Lee and Andy's safety.

Hulk sighs as he kneels down and looks at Clem. " **This bandits are amateur shots. I bet they'll be okay, kid**."

Clementine nods slightly at his words. "Okay." Hulk smiles as he nods back.

* * *

- **Forest** -

 **Bandit Camp**

Lee and Andy walk through the woods, eventually coming across a large tent surrounded by several tables, all of which had boxes full of supplies such as food, water, and blankets.

"These guys look like they had plenty of stuff." Lee says as he looks around.

"Supplies go down quick nowadays, Lee." Andy says. "Don't matter how much they got; they always run out eventually."

Lee nods as he keeps searching, entering the tent, which was pretty much empty; nothing of interest or use. Lee continues to dig around until something catches his eye: Clementine's hat!

"Lee?" Andy calls out. "We got trouble."

Lee exits the tent, noticing a trashy looking woman pointing a crossbow at him and Andy.

"Put your guns down!" The woman says. "I ain't going back! Jolene ain't going back!"

"Hey, we had a deal! No shooting as long as we gave you food!" Andy says back to the woman as he points his rifle at her.

"No. That was the deal you made with your new friends...and I ain't them." Jolene says as she looks at Lee. "You don't know who he is. You don't know what he is." She says, pointing suspicious accusations towards Andy.

"What the fuck are you talking about, lady?" Lee asks, to which she laughs insanely.

"Shut up and give me your guns...or I'll put in arrow in each of you...right between the eyes."

"This hat...where'd you get it?" Lee asks as he holds Clementine's hat in his hand.

"It was given to me."

"You stole it. From someone I care about." Lee says.

"So what if I did?" Jolene says back to him, only for Andy to shoot her square in the face, splattering blood out of her head wound as her body falls face down.

"What did you do...?" Lee asks, utterly paralyzed with shock at what just happened.

"Well, you weren't gonna shoot her!"

"We could've worked something out, Andy!" Lee shouts.

"Well...nothing we can do about it now. Let's just get out of here." Andy says as he slowly walks away, followed by Lee.

* * *

- **St. Johns Property** -

 **Barn**

As Hulk continues to stand guard, Kenny calls out to him, getting the green-skinned Goliath to look at him. "Hulk! Come here. I need your help!"

Hulk grunts softly as he walks over to Kenny. " **What**?"

Kenny directs him through the barn to a locked door. "It's a meat locker. I've been trying to get it open because of this nasty smell...but it's locked."

Hulk sniffs the air and grunts in disgust at what he smells. " **Ugh. Smells like something rotting**."

"Yeah. That's what's worrying me, big guy. Just wish there was a key."

Hulk scoffs as he easily pulls the doors open using his immense strength. " **Easy as pie. Mmm...pie. I miss pie**."

"Heh. That was easy." Kenny says with a smile, which suddenly drops when he sees a most horrifying sight: a room full of saws and other types of bladed equipment, all of which were covered in blood. "What the hell?...?"

" **What are they hiding**...?" Hulk asks himself.

* * *

- **Later** -

As Hulk and Kenny silently exit the barn, they see Lee and Andy walking towards the house.

"Lee!" Clementine says excitedly as she walks up to Lee, who gives her hat back. "You found my hat!"

"I sure did, Clem." Lee says with a smile as Clementine puts her hat on. Lee sees Hulk and Kenny and walks up to them, followed closely by Clementine, but she quickly walks off to play on the swing. "Guys, I think there's something up with the St. Johns."

"Yeah. We found a nasty meat locker. It was practically covered in blood." Kenny shudders.

" **Not a pretty sight**." Hulk remarks as he crosses his arms.

"We need to gather up the group and get out of here... _right now_." Lee says sternly.

Right as the three prepare to leave, Brenda exits the house. "Dinner is ready, y'all! Come on in!" She says.

"Yeah! Food!" Duck says excitedly.

" **Ugh...great timing**..." Hulk mumbles. " **Wait. Where's Carley**?"

"She went back to the motor inn to guard it. Ben went as well." Kenny says.

* * *

- **St. John House** -

 **Dining Room Table**

The group enters the house and walks into the dining room. As everyone else gladly sits down, Hulk stands there awkwardly, noticing the small chairs.

"Hulk? Why aren't you sitting down?" Kenny asks. "Aren't you hungry?"

" **Well, yeah. It's...uh**..."

"What is it, Hulk?" Clementine asks adorably.

" **Chair too small. If I sit, it'll break**." Hulk says as he rubs the back of his head.

"Can't you just...be the other guy?" Clementine asks.

" **Banner**?" Hulk asks, to which Clementine nods. After a few seconds, Hulk sighs as he transforms back into Bruce Banner. "Ahh...whew! About time. I was wondering when he'd give me a chance to walk around." Bruce says as he sits down. Brenda brings him a blanket to wrap around him. "Thank you, Brenda."

"Hey, Brenda. Where's Mark? Is he okay?" Lee asks, noticing that he hasn't heard from Mark all day ever since Brenda took him into the house.

"Oh, that angel is fine. He just needs some rest." Brenda says as she sets the table.

"Mind if I use the bathroom?" Lee asks, to which Brenda nods as she points him in the direction of the bathroom, which was upstairs. As Lee wanders around, he spots blood seeping from under a door. "What the hell?" Lee softly asks as he opens the door, spotting a bloodied up Mark lying on the floor...with no legs! "Oh, shit...!"

"Don't...let...them...eat..." Mark gurgles. "They...eat...people..."

Lee rushes downstairs to warn the group. Right as Clementine is about to take a bite out of some meat, Lee cries out. "Don't eat! It's people! Bruce, get the big guy!"

Bruce, not willing to take a chance, starts to transform, but is knocked out by Andy.

"Bruce!" Clem screams out.

"Everybody calm down now..." Andy says as he points his rifle at the group, making everyone raise their hands.


	7. Retaliation

- **Barn** -

 **Meat Locker**

As Bruce lays on the floor unconscious, Larry furiously pounds on the door, yelling for the St. John's to let them out. As he does this, Lilly vomits out what little food she accidentally consumed.

"You motherfuckers! You open this door right fucking now!" Larry yells.

"Dad, stop! This isn't helping!" Lilly shouts as her vomiting ceases.

"I'll take this fuckin' door down, and then you people are _dead_!" Larry continues to shout.

"You assholes! You let my family go right now!" Kenny shouts at a wall in anger.

As this happens, Lee and Clementine shake Bruce's unconscious body, trying desperately to wake him up so he can get them out of there. So far, they're not having much luck. "Bruce! Wake up, man!" Lee shouts as he starts to shake Bruce harder.

"Bruce! Please!" Clementine pleads as she squeezes Bruce's hand.

Kenny looks at Lee. "Lee, you better wake Bruce up right now! Those bastards have my family!"

"He's not opening his eyes, man!" Lee says as he keeps shaking Bruce.

"Bruce!" Clementine yells, still clutching Bruce's hand.

Larry continues to yell at the door and shout profanities until he stops and clutches his chest. "Oh...God..." He groans before collapsing onto the floor.

"Dad!" Lilly screams as she sits beside her father and starts giving him chest compressions. "He's not breathing! I think he had a heart attack!"

"He's dead." Kenny says in horror.

"He is not dead!" Lilly shouts as she continues to give her father compressions, but to no avail.

"Lee, we have to do something about this..." Kenny softly says as he walks over to Lee.

"What do you mean, Kenny?" Lee asks while Clementine feebly shakes Bruce's body.

"You saw what happened to that teacher at the motor inn; how quickly he turned. It's only a matter of time before Larry comes back as one of those things, and I am not gonna stay in a meat locker with a walker!"

Lilly continues to perform CPR, not giving up on trying to revive her father. "Dad, come on! Wake up!"

Lee sighs sadly as he looks at Clementine. "Don't look, Clem." As Clementine nods her head and focuses on trying to wake up Bruce, Lee grabs Lilly and pulls her away from Larry while Kenny grabs a salt lick.

"No! Let me go! Lee, let go! Kenny, please! Don't do this!" Lilly pleads as she frantically tries to get free from Lee's grip, but he was too strong.

"I'm sorry, Lilly...but your father's already dead..." Kenny says as he slams the salt lick downward, splattering the upper portion of Larry's skull.

"No!" Lilly shrieks. Lee slowly releases Lilly, who presses her face to her dead father's corpse.

"Lilly...I'm so sorry..." Lee says as he tries to comfort Lilly, only for her to lash out.

"Don't you fucking touch me!" Lilly shouts before focusing on Kenny. "And you...you better watch your back! One day...I'll crush your skull!" She says as she faces the wall and cries.

As all this occurs, Clementine starts to cry, clearly traumatized by everything that just happened. Lee notices this and approaches her. "Why, Lee? Why'd Kenny do that? Larry was one of us."

"What Kenny killed...that wasn't Larry. Not anymore. Once Larry died, he was no longer alive." Lee says comfortly. After Clementine reluctantly nods in acceptance of this, they hear a soft groan; Bruce was finally waking up.

"Ugh...my head..." Bruce groans as he sits up and rubs the back of his head with was rather sore after getting walloped by Andy. He sees Larry's corpse and yelps. "God! What happened?"

"Larry had a heart attack. Kenny...did what he has to." Lee says softly.

"He was gonna turn on us, Bruce. I had no choice." Kenny says, also softly.

Bruce notices Lilly, still crying and her back was facing everyone. "How is she doing?"

"Traumatized, of course." Lee says. "Her father was just killed in front of her."

"Let me...see if I can talk her...down." Bruce groans as he slowly stands up and approaches Lilly. "Lilly."

Lilly slowly turns around and looks at Bruce. "What?"

"I just...I'm sorry about your dad. Me...Well, Hulk and him, we might've hated each other...but I'm still sorry about what happened." Bruce says in solace.

Lilly nods. "Thank you, Bruce...but I just need a moment to myself."

Bruce nods back. "Okay. I'll try to get us out of here." He then walks over to Lee, Clementine, and Kenny.

"So...any chance of the big guy showing up and smashing the door down?" Kenny asks.

"Oh! Right!" Bruce says as he grunts and tries to transform, but nothing happens. "What the-? Come on, Hulk. Come out!" He shouts to his alter ego, but no such luck in summoning him. "I guess Andy hitting me in the head is...somehow keeping me from getting Hulk to come out. Must be a concussion of some kind."

"Damn it!" Kenny shouts.

* * *

- **Motor Inn** -

Carley sits atop the RV, tapping her foot impatiently; she was eagerly waiting for the group to come back, but so far no sign of them. As she continues yo tap her foot, Ben walks over to the RV.

"I'm sure they're okay, Carley." Ben nervously says, getting the feeling that they weren't okay.

"It's been _hours_ , Ben. I don't like it." Carley says lowly.

"Well, even if they _are_ in trouble, they got Hulk with them. That guy can handle _anything_." Ben says.

* * *

- **Later** -

After what felt like over half an hour, Bruce felt some degree of his power return to him, smiling to himself as he approached the meat locker door and punched it, denting it enough to where he could start pulling on it, eventually tearing the door down. "At least I have some degree of strength..." Bruce mumbles to himself.

"Alright. Let's find my family so we can get the hell out of this nightmare." Kenny says as the group leave the meat locker.

* * *

- **Barn** -

As Bruce, Clementine, Lee and Lilly exit the horrid meat locker, they come across Dan. Thinking quickly, the three men charge at Dan and attack him. As they struggle to take him down, Bruce taps into his super strength and punches Dan, whose foot steps on a bear trap, entrapping him.

"Where's my family, asshole?!" Kenny asks loudly, grabbing a nearby pitchfork and pointing it at Andy, wanting answers to his family's whereabouts.

"You don't know what it's like! To be hungry all the time!" Dan yells, clearly having lost his mind. "You ruined everything!"

"Shut up! I'm gonna kill you!" Kenny says as he raises the pitchfork to skewer Dan, only for Lee to snatch it out of Kenny's hands.

"He's not worth it, Kenny. He's just a waste of time." Lee says.

"Fuck you, Lee!" Dan says, only for Bruce to punch him hard in response.

"Watch your language, asshole." Bruce remarks. After this, the group leaves Dan stuck in the bear trap as they exit the barn and head towards the house, figuring that Katjaa and Duck must be in there.

* * *

- **St. John's House** -

Lee enters the house, immediately spotting Brenda, who is holding Katjaa at gunpoint. Lee gasps and slowly approaches, occasionally stopping when Brenda points her gun at him.

"Brenda, just let Katjaa go. You don't want to do this! You don't want to hurt anyone!"

"But I do! All I want is to hurt people...and eat them...Hahaha!" Brenda says, laughing hysterically as she backs up the stairs, still holding Katjaa hostage. As Lee continues to inch towards Brenda, he notices Mark, who has now zombified and is reaching out to her.

"Brenda, please! Just let her go...and we will leave. You'll never see us again." Lee says as Brenda foolishly moves closer to Mark.

"No! No one is leaving! Not now! Not ever!" Brenda shouts before Mark pulls her to him and bites into her neck. "Ahhhhhh!" She shrieks in pain as Mark bites deeper into her, the pain forcing her to release Katjaa, who quickly runs down the stairs and hugs Lee.

"Oh, thank you, Lee! Where are Kenny and Duck?"

"We're looking for Duck; so is Kenny." Lee says before hearing Andy.

"Lee! I know you're out there! Come out right now, or I'll kill the boy in front of his father!" Andy says.

* * *

- **Outside** -

Lee and Katjaa rush outside as soon as Andy says this, seeing Andy holding Duck in front of him while pointing his rifle at Kenny, Lilly, Clementine, and Bruce. "Let the boy and the rest of us go, Andy. Just let us leave. You'll never see us again." Lee says in an attempt to bargain their freedom.

"No way. You owe us for ruining dinner. Besides...I've never tasted little boy meat..." He says ominously.

"You touch my son...and I will end you, you bastard!" Kenny shouts angrily.

"No reason to play hero, Kenny." Andy taunts.

"Bruce...call him out..." Kenny says softly.

Bruce tries to transform once again, but like before, no such luck. "Damn it. That concussion must've done more damage than I originally thought..." Bruce says to Kenny. "I'm sorry, Kenny."

As Andy chuckles to himself, a gunshot goes off as a bullet hits his ear, blasting it clean off. Everyone looks to the source of the gunshot; it was Carley, who had arrived along with Ben. The unbearable pain makes Andy release Duck as he covers his injured ear, giving Bruce enough time to run at Andy, only for him to push Bruce away, who rolls down a hill and lands next to the electric fence. "Bad move, Bruce. For that...you get the barbecue treatment!" Andy says as he activates the electric fence and starts to pull Bruce towards the fence.

"Ungh!" Bruce strains as he pushes against Andy. "No...!"

"No! Leave him alone!" Clementine pleads. "Bruce! Fight back!"

Almost as if being spurred on by Clementine's pleading, Bruce could feel Hulk; he was back to full strength. Bruce smiles darkly. "Andy...you're making me angry. You wouldn't like me... **when I'm angry**!" Bruce roars as he transforms, making Andy release him and back away in fear.

"Whoa...Steady now. No reason to lose our heads..." Andy says, quivering with fear as Hulk snarls at him.

" **Shut up**!" Hulk says as he lightly punches Andy to the ground. As Andy groans loudly, Hulk grabs him by the leg and repeatedly slams him against the ground as five times before releasing him, his body and face mangled by the sheer brutality of Hulk's execution. " **Good to be back**..." He says softly as he cracks his knuckles.

"Hulk!" Clementine says happily as she hugs his leg; she was happy to see her friend again, despite the horrific execution that he just committed. "I knew you'd be back!"

" **Like I'd ever leave you, Clem**." Hulk says as he smiles at the young girl. Sadly, the moment is interrupted by a large group of walkers approaching. " **Grrr. Walkers**..." Hulk growls.

"I say we get the hell out of here." Carley says as she walks over to the group, who all nod in agreement as they quickly run away into the nearby forest. As they leave, they hear Dan scream in agony; the walkers have reached him and were now devouring him. As this happens, Hulk smiles, glad to hear Dan suffer after what he and his family did.

* * *

- **Forest** -

As the group walk through the forest, which was luckily empty with no bandits in sight, Lee and Kenny walk alongside Hulk. " **What do you want**?" Hulk asks with a sigh.

"With Larry dead...how do you think Lilly will act as leader?" Lee asks.

" **Seriously? You still think she's cut out for it**?" Hulk asks in disbelief.

"I feel bad about what I did, Hulk, but I didn't have a choice. He would've turned, and we'd all be dead." Kenny says.

" **Then we find someone else to be leader**." Hulk remarks. " **Someone who isn't a complete control freak**."

"Amen to that." Lee replies.

"Still...we could always fix up that RV back at the motor inn. Head down to Savannah, find a boat." Kenny says.

" **Hmm. Probably safer than staying at the motor inn. Place is a death trap**." Hulk says lowly.

After agreeing to Kenny's plan, the entire group hears a car horn going off in the distance. "What was that?" Carley asks, her gun drawn. The groups cautiously heads to the source of the noise, which turns out to be an abandoned station wagon parked in the middle of the woods...which happened to be filled with supplies.

"My God..." Lee says softly as he looks on. "Look at all these supplies!"

"But who would leave all this stuff out here for anyone to take?" Carley asks, puzzled by the fact that the station wagon was left unattended.

"Who cares? We should take it. We could use it." Lilly says as she opens one of the doors and grabs a box.

"Wait." Lee says. "What if this stuff is for a group? Just like us? Those people might need these supplies."

"Lee...we're starving. All of us are. We need this stuff just as much as anyone else." Kenny says.

"It's not right." Clementine says. "If this stuff is someone else's, this would be stealing."

" **Clem has a point, guys**." Hulk says, siding with her as well as Lee. Like hell was he going to commit theft in front of Clementine, even if it meant they'd survive with all these supplies.

"Hulk...nobody is around. Even if these supplies do belong to a group, do you see them? I sure as hell don't." Kenny says.

" **We aren't taking anything, Kenny**." Hulk says sternly.

"Uh, guys?" Carley says, interrupting Hulk and Kenny. "You might want to see this." Carley holds up a camcorder she found in the front seat and presses the play button, playing footage of someone watching the group while they were in the motor inn, hearing a manic woman's voice. Lee gasps, remembering the crazy woman he encountered in the woods with Andy. "Maybe this stuff really _does_ belong to someone..." Carley says as the recording ends.

" **Told you**." Hulk says.

"But what're we gonna do for food?" Ben asks.

"Shit." Kenny says in defeat. "Let's just go back to the motor inn, figure out what to do next." He says as he and his family walk away from the motor inn. The others follow suit, unaware that Lilly pockets quite a bit of supplies for herself.

* * *

- **Motor Inn** -

Upon returning to their own safe haven, the group don't say anything; they're too exhausted and traumatized by what the St. John's tried to do to them that they went straight to bed, though Hulk lays next to Clementine to comfort her.

"Hulk?" Clementine cutely asks, looking at her green-skinned protector and savior.

Hulk looks at her. " **Yeah**?"

"I'm really glad you're with us...and that you saved us from those scary people." Clementine says adorably, referring to the St. Johns.

" **Heh. I'm glad I'm with you too, Clem**." Hulk says with a smile. " **Try to get some sleep, kid**."

Clementine nods as she lays down in her sleeping bag and closes her eyes. Hulk smiles at her as he lays down as well, quickly falling asleep as the cool air brushes against his bare back. As the gamma monster and the innocent little girl sleep, Carley watches them with a smile on her face. Lee notices this and walks up to her.

"See something that interests you?" Lee teases.

"Lee...!" Carley softly exclaims. "Uh, I don't know what you mean." She says, blushing quite a bit.

"Oh-ho...you like Hulk..." He teases again.

"I do not..." Carley whines, lying to both Lee and herself.

"Hey, no one's judging you. If you like him, that's okay." Lee says, lightly tapping her shoulder before heading into one of the rooms to go to sleep. Carley watches Hulk and Clementine sleep one more time before heading off to bed.


	8. Trust Issues

A week has passed since the group escaped the St. Johns, and unfortunately, things haven't gotten any better. They're still living at the motor inn, but their supplies are once again running low, so Kenny decides to head into Macon, hoping there's something there that'll help the group for at least a little while. He decides to ask Lee to join him, as he feels Hulk would attract too much attention from walkers, plus Hulk is more intimidating than him, so it's more sensible to keep him there to protect the others from the bandits, who've been regularly attacking them. "Lee." Kenny says as he walks over to Lee.

"Yeah, man?" Lee asks. "What is it?"

"Oh, I was thinking of heading into Macon, see if there's anything we can use. Wanna come with?" Kenny asks as he loads his rifle.

"Uh...sure." Lee says almost reluctantly. As much as he hated going back to the place where his family died alone, he knew how dire the situation was; the group needed more food and supplies. Lee grabs a rifle of his own as Hulk pulls the gate open so the two could leave.

" **Careful**." Hulk says lowly in warning.

"We will. Just keep Clem and the others safe, okay?" Kenny says to him, receiving a grunt and a nod from Hulk in response.

* * *

- **Macon** -

Lee and Kenny walk down the road into Macon, killing several lumbering walkers by whacking their skulls with the butts of their rifles, conserving ammo as well as keeping a low profile. Painful memories rush into both men as they spot the Everett pharmacy, which had a wrecked helicopter on it, which plunged straight through the roof.

"Ohhh..." Lee moans sadly.

Kenny notices and glances at his friend. "You alright, Lee?"

Lee slowly nods his head in answer. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just...a lot of bad memories here. My family...the girl that died at the motor inn before we moved there...Doug."

"Yeah. Bad things did happen here, Lee. But we can't let that stop us from moving on." Kenny says as he notices some rubble blocking the front door. "Lee, where do come down on staying or going?"

"You mean, packing up and getting in the RV?" Lee asks.

Kenny nods. "Yeah. Some of the others have been talking about it, but have you made up your mind yet?"

"I think it's best if we left. The motel...it has run its course, and it isn't exactly safe." Lee sighs.

"Damn right about that. You, me, my family and everybody else set on leaving...we pile into the RV and keep moving until we see water."

"Well, what if Lilly doesn't want to come with us? What if she wants to stay at the motel?" Lee asks.

"Well, then that's the way it goes, Lee. If she wants to stay, that's her choice...and her problem." Kenny says as the two men approach a tanker truck blocking the road. "Okay. Remember, just like the other times. We climb over the tanker, get into the pharmacy, then get out before walkers show up." Kenny says to Lee, who nods as Kenny climbs a ladder on the tanker, which suddenly breaks off after he climbs to the top of the tanker. "Shit. That ladder's history."

"Well, how am I gonna get up there, then?" Lee asks.

"I don't know, but you better figure it out quick. You know how dangerous it is to be out in the open..." Kenny says ominously.

Lee scrambles around the disturbingly empty street before spotting a military jeep parked next to the pharmacy, noticing that it had a towing winch on the front bumper. "That's it. I can use the towing winch to pull this jeep towards the tanker. Then I can climb up." Lee says to himself as he slowly yanks the hooked cable towards the tanker's wheel axle.

"How do you think Lilly's holding up?" Kenny asks as Lee keeps yanking the tow cable.

"Well, you did kill her dad, so...I'd imagine she's not doing so good."

"I did what I had to, Lee, and you know it. If I didn't do what I did, he would've killed us all, including Clementine." Kenny says bluntly.

"I know, man. I just...wish there was something else we could've done for him..." Lee says as he hooks the cable onto the wheel axle and moves the jeep against the tanker before hopping onto the jeep's hood. As soon as he does this, manic screaming can be heard. He quickly turns around to see a bloodied up woman run out of a building, followed closely by a lurking walker.

"No! No! Go away! Ahhhh!" The woman frantically screams, attracting the attention of several more walkers, who surround their screaming prey.

"It's a woman. We have to help her!" Lee quietly says as to not get any of the walkers' attention.

"No. Think about it. None of the walkers know we're here, right?" Kenny says, coming up with a plan.

"What are you saying?" Lee asks as he watches the woman continue to scream and frantically dodge the walkers.

"We leave her alone, use her as bait to distract them and lure any other walkers out into the open. That way we won't have any trouble getting what we need." Kenny says softly.

Lee groans in disgust at Kenny's plan and aims his rifle at the woman, wanting to put her out of her misery...but he realized that doing so would get the walkers' attention, so he lowers the weapon.

"Let's go." Kenny says as he hoists Lee up before entering the pharmacy, the woman's screams still going. "Okay, grab everything you can, and don't forget to look under the shelves. We don't have much time; that girl won't last forever. Lee nods as he rapidly grabs pills and other medical supplies, even some discarded energy bars. Sadly, the girl's screams ceased; they were out of time. "Time's up. Let's go." Kenny says as the two narrowly avoid the walkers outside and run back towards the motor inn...

* * *

- **Motor Inn** -

Clementine draws on some paper while Hulk watches, smiling on, as it's a drawing of Clementine holding hands with Hulk, with a caption that reads, "Best friends to the end."

"What do you think, Hulk?" Clementine asks as she holds up the drawing for Hulk to look at.

Hulk smiles and pets her head. " **That's really sweet, Clem**." Clementine smiles at his answer then resumes doodling, adding a big sun to her drawing. As she does this, Ben keeps a lookout, sitting on top of the RV, rifle in hand as he calls out to Hulk, telling him that Lee and Kenny are back. Hulk grunts as he walks over to the gate and pulls it open, closing it after Lee and Kenny enter. " **Back so soon**?" Hulk asks in an almost teasing way as Lee and Kenny take a moment to catch their breath, having ran all the way back.

Lilly walks out of her room and stands in front of Lee and Kenny. "You boys get anything?" She asks.

Lee nods as he opens his backpack, revealing the dozens of medications and food rations he was able to pick up.

Lilly smiles slightly. "Good job, Lee." She says as Lee hands his backpack over to Lilly. Kenny sighs as he does the same, Lilly walking back to her room with the supplies.

* * *

- **Later** -

As Hulk watches Clementine add more details to her drawing, he overhears, Lee, Kenny and Lilly, who are yelling at each other something fierce. He sighs in annoyance as he gets up and walks to Lilly's room. " **Will you shut up, Lilly?!"** Hulk says angrily, getting the three to silence themselves all at the same time. " **What is the problem**?"

"These two cowards want to leave the motor inn while I want to stay." Lilly whines.

"This place has had its run, Lilly! The bandits keep attacking this place; how much longer do you think those makeshift gates and walls will protect us?!" Kenny asks.

"Kenny is right! We should all pack up and get in the RV; head to Savannah, near water. It's gotta be safer around there." Lee joins in.

" **Rrr...It would be better if we all left to find someplace better out there**..." Hulk says lowly.

"Hate to break it to you, muscles, but it wouldn't be any better out on an open road! Because someone has been stealing what little supplies we have left." Lilly says in deep frustration.

"Who do you think is doing these thefts?" Lee asks.

"Well, obviously, it's gotta be someone in the group!" Lilly says angrily, as always.

"I'm not the one taking supplies." Lee says, followed by Kenny confessing his innocent as well.

" **Not me either**." Hulk says.

"Well, find whoever is doing this and bring them to me! Preferably alive so I can beat the truth out of them! Now get out! I need to think." Lilly says, shooing the three out, who gladly leave; they were getting tired of Lilly's constant whining.

" **Grrr...whiny brat**..." Hulk mumbles as Lilly closes and locks the door to her room. Hulk always hated Lilly, especially after she attained her status as leader of the group.

"I'm, uh...gonna go work on the RV for a while." Kenny says, excusing himself from Hulk and Lee, who start to converse with one another.

"Who do you think is taking our supplies, Hulk?"

" **No clue. I'm more muscle than brains. But whoever it is...they're dead when he slips up**."

"Well, we better make sure it's someone in the group. Plus, Lilly said she wants the thief alive." Lee says.

" **Got it. Don't kill supply thief**..." Hulk moans, annoyed that he will have to cripple someone as opposed to kill them. As he sighs, Carley walks up to him, smiling up at him. " **Carley**..." Hulk says with a smile.

"Hey, big guy. Um...can we talk? In private?" She asks with a hushed tone.

Hulk raises an eyebrow at her lowered voice, but gladly agrees to her request. " **Uh...okay. Sure**." Happy at his answer, Carley smiles and leads him into her room, closing and locking the door behind her. " **So**..." Hulk says awkwardly.

"Hulk...ever since I met you...I've been...feeling certain emotions that I never thought I'd feel, now that the world's gone to hell. Every time you'd throw yourself into danger, I'd fear for your life, but you'd always fight your way out of it, no matter the odds. Even when Andy almost killed your other self at the dairy...you made it out safe."

" **What are you trying to say**?" Hulk asks as he puts his large finger under Carley's chin, to which Carley slowly looks up at him.

"I...What I'm trying to say...is that I love you." Carley says with a sigh, happy to get her true feelings for him off her chest. The world seems to freeze around Hulk, who looks at Carley for at least a minute until she touches his hand, snapping him back to reality. "Hey. You okay? You sorta...dozed off for a bit..." Carley says, still holding his hand.

" **Rrr...Uh-huh**." Hulk says lowly. " **I'm good**."

Carley smiles. "Good. Hehe." She chuckles. "So...do you love me back?"

Hulk gulps nervously; he had no idea what to do, but he didn't want to disappoint her. " **I don't know much about you...but you're pretty, dedicated to helping others, and you know how to fight walkers. Like Clem, I would protect you**..."

Carley smiles as she jumps up, making Hulk catch her, putting his large hands on her butt, making him blush badly. Carley giggles at this and kisses him on the cheek. "I love you, Hulk..." She says softly as she lays her head on his shoulder.

* * *

- **Lilly's Room** -

Lilly sits on her bed as she argues with Lee endlessly about who might be stealing the supplies. "What do you mean you don't know who's stealing from us?!" Lilly asks in anger and frustration. "I need to know who's taking our supplies!"

"Lilly, I want to find the guy too, but there's nothing around here to suggest the thief is one of the group. For all we know, it could be one of the bandits outside."

"I don't care; find the thief, Lee. _Now_!" Lilly says loudly. Not wanting to listen to her complaining anymore, Lee nods his head and swiftly leaves her room, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

- **Later** -

As Hulk continues to sit with Clementine, Lee contemplates telling some of the group what he did before this whole mess started, feeling that the others would trust him more if they knew, especially Hulk, Kenny, and especially Clementine. However, right as he was about to do that, Duck, who has been eavesdropping on Lee and Lilly's conversation, speaks up, startling Lee. "Ooh...A mystery!" The small boy asks excitedly.

"Jesus, Duck." Lee softly exclaims.

"Sorry. I heard you two talking." Duck says apologetically.

"Well, you need to _un-hear_ all of that." Lee says before walking away.

"Can I help?" Duck asks as he follows him.

Lee stops walking and turns around, looking down at Duck. "What'd I just say?"

"You're the greatest detective so I can be...Dick Grayson! Your ward!" Duck says, though Lee grimaces at his quip. "T-That's Robin."

"I know who that is." Lee retorts in annoyance. Lee than sighs as he thinks it over. "Hmm...I would be able to find clues faster if I had someone helping me.." He says internally before focusing on Duck. "Fine. You can help, but don't tell anybody."

"Secrecy...Cool!" Duck says as he starts to look for clues.

As Lee starts looking as well, he decides to ask Clementine if she's seen anything. "Hey, Clem." He says before noticing Hulk sitting beside her. "Hulk."

" **Hey, Lee**." Hulk says with a nod.

"Hi, Lee. What's going on?" Clementine asks.

"Have you...seen anyone acting weird?" Lee asks.

"No. Though Duck has been blaming me for a bunch of things."

"Like what?" Lee asks.

"Putting a bug on his pillow."

"Did you do that?" Lee asks.

Clementine smiles. "Yes." Hulk and Lee chuckle in amusement at this.

" **You are a silly kid**." Hulk says as he pets her head.

* * *

- **A Few Minutes Later** -

Lee checks a heating duct, discovering a paper bag full of medicine- the same medicine that Lilly said had gone missing. "Oh, shit..." He says softly as he takes the bag to Hulk. "Hulk, look." He says as he shows Hulk the contents of the bag. "It's the same meds that Lilly said went missing today."

" **Who took them**?" Hulk asks, to which Lee shrugs.

"I don't know. We should show it to Lilly." Lee says. Hulk nods as he and Lee go to Lilly.

* * *

- **Lilly's Room** -

"This just proves it! Someone has been stealing from us!" Lilly says angrily upon being shown the bag of stolen supplies. "I want to question everybody in the group. Right now!"

Hulk shakes his head and rolls his eyes in annoyance as he crosses his arms. " ** _Does she ever stop_**?" He mentally asks himself. After this occurs, yelling can be heard. " **What's that**?" Hulk asks as he exits the room, followed by Lilly and Lee.

* * *

- **Outside** -

Once outside, a large truck smashing through the gate, destroying it. "We had a deal!" A man shouts as arrows start flying at the group, one of which would've hit Clementine, but Hulk gets in the way, the arrow plunging into his chest.

"Hulk!" Clem screams in horror as Hulk yanks the arrow out and heals his wound.

" **Don't worry, Clem. I'll live**." Hulk says as he grabs a wooden pallet and hurls it at the bandits, killing one of them as he roars in anger at them. Several more bandits approach, getting behind cover and taking shots at the group with guns. Hulk is hit several times, but unlike the arrows, the bullets don't even penetrate his skin, as the bullets crumple up upon contacting his body. " **Idiots**." Hulk remarks as he charges at the bandits, punching and slamming them around like ragdolls while Lee, Carley and Lilly shoot at more of the bandits with guns of their own.

"Walkers!" Ben shouts, spotting a large group of walkers entering the area. Hulk roars again as he attacks the two groups of hostiles, getting several more arrows into his body in the process. As he does this, a walker attacks Duck, pushing him down and biting at him, only for Hulk to pull the walker off and crush its skull, its blood and brain matter splattering on his chest.

" **I hate walkers**..." Hulk grinds his teeth as he says this before reengaging in fighting the bandits until they were all dead, leaving only the walkers.

"Hulk!" Kenny calls out as he runs into the RV and starts it up. "There's too many! Get everyone in the RV! We are leaving!"

Hulk nods as he punches one more walker before entering the RV with the others, holding Clem in his arms as he closes the door. " **Go**!" He shouts. Kenny floors it, flattening one of the dead bandits on the way out as the RV speeds down the road.

* * *

- **Road** -

As the group starts to breathe heavily, relieved to be alive, Hulk sets Clem down beside him as he pulls out the arrows protruding from his body; Clem even helps pull out the ones in his back.

Carley flinches at each arrow getting pulled out, only to watch in awe as Hulk's wounds heal instantly. "Wow...So you heal too?" She asks him, to which Hulk nods.

However, the moment is ruined by Lilly, who wants to know why the bandits suddenly attacked them. "Okay, what the hell was that?! Why did the bandits attack us?"

"Lilly, calm down!" Kenny shouts as he focuses on the road ahead.

"Calm down? We were almost killed, Kenny! Duck was almost eaten by a walker!" Lilly retorts. "Stop the RV." As Kenny takes his eyes off the road to join the argument, the RV hits a walker, making him slam the brakes, bringing the RV to a literal screeching halt. Lilly than steps out along with the others, seeing no walkers around for miles.

Kenny checks under the RV, spotting a walker snagged under it. "Son of a bitch..." Kenny mumbles.

"What seems to be the problem, Kenny?" Lilly asks.

"Shit. There's a walker snagged under the damn RV." Kenny says.

"Well, get it out and deal with it." Lilly says as she looks at Ben and Carley, who stand side by side. "You two. One of you has got to know something."

"Lilly, please...You don't understand." Ben whimpers. "I did nothing wrong!"

"Oh, really? Enlighten me, then." Lilly says. "Tell me what I'm missing, smart guy. You have until Kenny deals with that walker to give me an answer."

"I...I...I'm..." Ben stutters, afraid of what Lilly will do. "I-I can't. I'm scared."

"We're all scared! We almost got killed back there!" Lilly says angrily. "Hell, Duck was almost eaten!"

"I didn't know this would happen! None of us did! You can still trust me!" Ben cries out.

"The hell we can! I say we leave you behind, seeing as how you clearly know _something_ , but you won't tell us what it is. Who knows what else you'd do if we kept you with us." Lilly says coldly.

"How is that fair to him? Or anyone?" Carley asks, defending Ben.

"Stay out of this, Carley!" Lilly says.

"You know what, Lilly? Fuck you. You act all tough, but you're just a whiny, pathetic, scared little girl. You're not fit to lead us...or anything. Lee or Kenny is. Hell, even Hulk would be _miles_ of a better leader than you've ever been. Take a page out of their book and try to actually be helpful _for once_!" Carley says defiantly, getting Lilly's trademark angry face.

Kenny finally pulls the walker out from under the RV and stomps on its head, killing it as he walks over. "There. Now what the fuck's the problem?" He asks as Lilly pulls out her gun and shoots at Carley, only for Hulk to move swiftly in front of Carley, taking the shot. Like before, he was unharmed as the bullet falls to the ground. Reacting quickly, Lee pins Lilly to the wall of the RV. " _Drop it. Now_!" Lee says angrily, making Lilly tearfully drop the gun. "Holy shit, Lilly! That's it! Everyone get in! We're leaving this crazy bitch!"

Hulk nods as he ushers Carley inside, not wanting her to be anywhere near Lilly. " **Best idea I've heard all day**..."

"She couldn't be trusted, Lee." Lilly whines.

"You tried to kill her, Lilly! You're a murderer. We can't have you with us!"

" _I'm_ a murderer? You've had Lee with you all this time. He's killed before!"

Kenny looks at Lee in shock. "Is this true, Lee?" He asks, to which Lee looks at him sadly and nods. "Christ, Lee! Were you ever gonna tell us? You got a kid with you!"

" **I don't care what he did. I'd still follow him anywhere**..." Hulk says, much to Lee's surprise.

"Whatever. Let's just go..." Kenny says as he walks past Lee and Hulk and enters the RV, followed by Lee.

" **You stupid, psychotic bitch**..." Hulk says as he glares at Lilly.

"Hulk, please..." Lilly tries to say something before Hulk punches Lilly's knee with a minimal force of 50 tons, completely shattering her knee bone. " _Ahhhh_!"

" **Shut up! Join your dad in hell**!" Hulk roars at her as he gets in the RV, leaving Lilly behind. The RV pulls away as Lilly clutches her leg, her screams attracting some nearby walkers...

* * *

- **Later** -

As the group abandons Lilly, whose screams become more and more faint, Hulk sits on a couch, holding Carley and Clementine close to him. Lee walks to the front of the RV, where Katjaa is sitting beside Kenny, holding an unconscious Duck. "What's wrong with Duck?"

"There's...a problem." Kenny says very hesitantly as Katjaa moves her hand away from Duck, revealing...a walker bite wound on his side!

"No...!" Lee says.


	9. The Savannah Express

_A/N: I changed Ben's confession from the previous chapter so we can get Kenny's rage-filled reaction later on in the story. You're welcome._

* * *

Lee starts to freak out, horrified that Duck was bitten, thinking back to when they were all at the motor inn. That must've been when Duck was bitten...when that walker fell on top of him. "What are we gonna do? We've never had a bite victim in our group."

Kenny pays no mind to what Lee said, only focusing on Duck and trying to convince himself that Duck will be fine as they drive to Savannah. "Duck will be fine, Lee. Let's just focus on getting to Savannah."

As Kenny focuses on driving the RV down the road, Katjaa looks at Lee while cradling her child. "Don't worry, Lee. I'll keep an eye on Duck. If something happens I'll let you know." She says.

"Okay. Thanks, Katjaa." Lee says as he walks to the back of the RV.

As Clementine and Carley lay against Hulk, the large green-skinned behemoth sighs to himself as he shrinks down, reverting to his human form. Bruce gently lays the two girls against some pillows on the couch as he walks to the front of the RV, remembering vividly that Duck was bitten when they fled from the motor inn. "Katjaa." Bruce says softly, to which Katjaa looks at the shirtless man. "Let me look at Duck's bite. I can examine it, figure out his chances." Katjaa nods her head in answer and allows Bruce to look at Duck's wound. After Bruce examines the bite, he realizes much to his horror that the infection has already spread too far and that Duck has no chance of survival, no matter what they do. "Keep him comfortable, Katjaa." Bruce says as he heads back to the couch. As much as it pained him to do so, he couldn't bring himself to tell Katjaa and Kenny the truth; the news would destroy them.

* * *

- **Later** -

Carley and Clementine wake up as Lee sits them elsewhere in the back of the RV, telling them about Duck's condition after being told about it from Bruce. "No..." Carley says upon hearing Duck's inevitable fate. "Not him."

"I'm sorry, but Bruce looked at his wound. There's nothing we can do." Lee says, a sad expression on his face.

"I wish there was something I could do..." Bruce says softly, feeling melancholy over what'll eventually happen to poor Duck.

"You did what you could, Bruce. Don't blame yourself." Carley says as she puts a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't want Duck to die." Clementine says as she starts to sob. "He's my friend...even when I put that bug under his pillow."

Lee looks at her. "Hey. You didn't mean any harm when you did that. I'm sure he's forgiven you." He says assuredly. "Let's try to get some sleep."

* * *

- **Later** -

As Carley and Clementine lay against Bruce on the couch once again, Lee sleeps close to Clem while Ben sleeps on the bed at the back of the RV.

* * *

- **Next Morning** -

As everyone but Kenny and Katjaa sleeps, the former quietly calls for Bruce and Lee, waking the aforementioned men up. Bruce and Lee carefully move past the sleeping Carley and Clementine as they walk to the front of the RV, spotting a train that is blocking the road.

"A damn train?" Lee asks as he looks at the large train sitting in the road. The RV comes to a stop as the sudden lack of movement causes everyone to wake up.

"What's going on?" Clementine asks tiredly as she wakes up.

"There's a train blocking the road." Kenny says as he exits the RV, along with everyone else, though not before Bruce puts on a new shirt, courtesy of Carley. "How did this happen?" Kenny asks before turning around to look at Lee and Ben. "What do you guys say we go check things out, see what caused this?" Not having a better idea, the two nod.

"Sure thing. Plus, all these bushes around us...it should make it hard for anybody...or anything, to sneak up on us." Lee says, pointing out the large amount of shrubbery around. As the three men head off to investigate the derailed train, the others stay with the RV, with Carley keeping watch.

* * *

- **Later** -

Wanting to help contribute when he isn't in Hulk mode, Bruce walks over to Carley. "Hey." He says softly to the beautiful woman.

"Hi, Bruce. What's up?" She asks as she looks at him.

"I'm, uh, gonna check out the boxcar at the back of the train, see if there's any supplies we might need. You know, considering what little stuff we have in the RV."

Carley nods, though she's unsure about Bruce going alone, only to immediately remember how powerful he is as his other self. "Okay. Here." She says as she hands him a small knife. "Just in case."

He nods as he puts the knife in his pocket. "Thanks, Carley. I'll be careful." He then heads towards the train, only for Clem to call out.

"Be careful, Bruce." The young girl says softly, not wanting Bruce to end up getting bitten like Duck.

"I will, Clementine. Don't worry." Bruce says with a smile as he heads to the rear boxcar of the train. Shockingly, all but the front train car and the rear boxcar were destroyed by the derailment. Bruce opens the boxcar door and enters, no sign of walkers in sight as he sees many supplies, including a few crates of wine, a bottle of water, and a map with several destinations including Savannah. "Looks like this train is heading where we are..." Bruce says to himself as he pockets the map.

* * *

- **Front Train Car** -

As Bruce continues to search for more supplies, Kenny, Lee and Ben enter the front cab of the train, coming across a corpse with a horrifically mangled head. "Geez..." Lee softly says in disgust.

"I...don't think he came back." Ben says, thinking he died without turning.

"Same here, Ben. Same here..." Lee says as he moves the dead body off the train controls. As he does this, Ben notices a button that is blinking yellow.

"Push the button!" Ben says.

"You're kidding, right?" Lee asks, unsure of what'll happen when he pushes it.

"It couldn't hurt to at least try it." Ben argues. Lee sighs as he hesitantly presses the button, causing a loud hissing sound to erupt from the train. "That was the brakes."

Lee's eyes widen at the news. "You mean...this thing will still work?"

"If we could separate all those smashed up care behind it, yeah. It just might work." Ben says.

"Wow! If we get this thing moving, we'll get to Savannah in no time!" Kenny exclaims with joy as he sits down in the conductor's seat.

"Yeah. We just got to find a way to disconnect those other traincars..." Lee says softly.

* * *

- **Rear Boxcar** -

Bruce keeps looking before coming across a man in raggedy clothes and an untrimmed grey beard. Bruce freezes in place, clearly not trusting the man as he approaches him. "You take any of my stuff?" The man asks in a threatening way.

"J-Just a map of the train routes." Bruce says slowly, unsure of how this strange man would react.

The man smiles softly as he nods his head ever so slightly. "It's alright. You can have it."

Bruce gives him a look of surprise. "Really?"

The man nods. "Sure. I got all the train's routes...in here." The man says as he points to his forehead. "By the way, I'm Chuck, but you can call me Charles if you're feeling formal."

Bruce nods slightly. "Nice to meet you, Chuck. I'm Bruce. You have any idea how to get this train moving? We're trying to get to Savannah, pronto."

"Ah. That part's easy, partner. Take the messed up cars off, and it'll move in no time." Chuck says.

Bruce smiles. "Got it. Thank you, Chuck. Would you like to come with us?" He asks, to which Chuck nods.

* * *

- **Outside** -

Bruce exits the rear boxcar with Chuck following close behind as he introduces him to the group, who quickly warm up to him, especially Clementine, but Bruce keeps a close eye on him as he has a hidden feeling that he might do something. He then walks over to Katjaa and holds the water bottle he found in front of her. "Here. It's for Duck."

Katjaa gasps happily as she takes it. "Thank you, Bruce. You're a sweet man."

Bruce chuckles. "Thanks, Katjaa. How is he doing?" He asks, focusing on Duck's deteriorating state.

"I'm not sure, Bruce." Katjaa says, fearing the worst for her child. As the two wonder what'll happen to Duck, Chuck walks over to both Carley and Clementine and hands them some candy bars, gaining their trust even more.

Kenny runs out of the cab of the train and rushes over to the group. "Guys! This heap still works!"

Carley smiles. "Good. That means we can get out of here."

"Problem with that. The other train cars, the ones that fell off the track. They're still attached to the cab. We have to decouple the cars if we're going anywhere." Lee says.

"Guys. Look." Bruce says as he pulls the train route map out of his pocket and shows it to everyone, pointing to a mark on the map over Savannah. "If we can get this train moving, it's a straight path to Savannah."

"He's right." Kenny says upon looking at the map. "Only question is...how do we do that?"

"I know how." Chuck says as he pulls out some tools and hands them to Lee. "Use these to decouple the damaged cars."

Lee nods as he walks over to the train. "Got it." As Lee tends to the damaged cars, Bruce and the others, Chuck included, get into a different boxcar that isn't damaged. A few minutes later, Lee decouples the damaged cars and gets in the intact boxcar. "Okay! Let's go!" Lee yells to Chuck, who sits in the conductor's chair and gets the train moving.

* * *

- **Hours Later** -

A couple hours pass as the train heads down the tracks towards Savannah, everyone relaxing in the boxcar until Katjaa calls to Bruce, who quickly gets up and walks over to her, the floor of the boxcar shaking under him as he approaches her. Much to his horror, Duck's condition has gotten even worse. He is now coughing up blood, clearly getting close to death. "No..." Bruce softly says as he looks at Duck.

"He is getting worse..." Katjaa says tearfully as Lee walks over, gasping with horror at Duck's current state. "Lee, you must speak with Kenny about this. I don't want my boy to suffer anymore. Please."

Lee nods. "I will, Katjaa. I'll talk to him." He sighs sadly as he walks between the boxcar and the cab, slowly approaching Kenny from behind. "Kenny?"

Kenny slowly turns around and looks at Lee. "What is it? Is Duck okay?"

Lee looks down. "No. He's getting worse. I...think we should-" He begins to say, only for Kenny to bolt from his seat and presses Lee to a wall.

"No! We are not killing Duck! He is my son! You get that, Lee?! He is my son!" Kenny says angrily.

"I get that, Kenny, but if we don't put him out of his misery, he'll become a threat to everyone else on this train...including Clementine."

"Listen to yourself. You sound just like Larry...and look what happened to him." Kenny says, seething with anger.

"Kenny...I care about Duck. I really do. But...don't you think it'd be the humane thing to just end his pain here and now?" Lee says as he looks at Kenny sympathetically

After much long and hard thinking, Kenny sighs. As much as he loved his son, he knew Lee was right. Duck was suffering greatly, and the constant rumbling of the train was probably making it worse. "Stop the train, Chuck..."

Chuck is confused by his request, but obliges as the train comes to a halt.

* * *

- **Outside** -

Katjaa carries Duck outside as Kenny walks alongside her, tears flowing down the cheeks of both parents as they approach a large tree. Clementine watches before turning to look at Bruce, Lee and Carley.

* * *

- **Boxcar** -

"Guys...what's gonna happen to Duck?" The sweet young girl asks, to which the three adults struggle to explain without scaring her.

"Clem...they...they're gonna put Duck down..." Lee says.

"What?" Clem asks.

"Clem..." Bruce says softly as he kneels down. "This is hard to explain...but they're going to put Duck down...so he doesn't become a walker."

"You mean like Kenny did with Lilly's dad?" She asks, remembering what happened at the St. John's farm. Bruce gives her a sad look and nods his head in answer. "I don't want Duck to die...!" She cries as she hugs Bruce tightly, crying into his shoulder.

"I know, Clem. I wish we could do something to help him, but we can't. All we can do is give Duck mercy..." Bruce softly says.

Suddenly, a loud bang could be heard, startling the entire group that's inside the train.

* * *

- **Outside** -

Lee runs outside to investigate the noise while everyone else stays inside for their own safety. When he gets to the large tree, he lets out a shout of shock/horror.

"No! No, no, no, no!" Kenny screams frantically. He is clutching Katjaa in his arms. She was dead, a gaping bullet hole in her head as a handgun lay next to her.

"Kenny, what happened?!" Lee asks, horrified tremendously by what has just occurred.

"Katjaa...she shot herself. Duck, h-he stopped breathing..." Kenny says as he cries hard, overwhelmed with grief as he holds his wife's body.

Lee cries along with Kenny before turning his attention on Duck, who has begun to breathe again, but it's so faint and weak that it's barely audible. "Kenny...we have to do something about Duck. He'll turn..."

Kenny continues to cry, not really focused on that right now. "I can't do it...I can't shoot my own son..."

Lee slowly picks up the handgun and aims it at Duck's head, who takes one final breath before going silent again. "I'm so sorry, Kenny..." He whispers before pulling the trigger.

 _Bang_. The gun rings out.

* * *

- **Train** -

After Kenny regains his composure, he follows Lee and gets back on the train as Lee signals Chuck to get the train going, which he does. As Kenny heads to the cab to be alone, Clementine asks Lee what's wrong with Kenny. Lee sighs with deep sadness as he informs the group of the fates of Duck and Katjaa, saddening everyone present, especially Bruce and Clementine.

* * *

- **Later** -

After everyone adjusts to Katjaa and Duck no longer being with them, Bruce, Lee and Carley approach Clementine and decide to teach her how to shoot a gun, as there might be a situation where they might not always be around to protect her. They take her to the back of the boxcar and set up some empty wine bottles for Clem to shoot. Clem struggles to hit them at first, but after a bit of trial and error, she manages to hit each and every one of them, much to the joy of the adults watching over her. After that, Carley sits Clementine down and cuts her hair so walkers won't be able to grab onto her.

* * *

- **Later** -

Lee looks over a map that he found, which happens to be a map of Savannah, and shows it to everyone so they can come up with a plan. Midway through, Clementine interrupts.

"Wait. My parents told me they were in Savannah. Maybe we can find them when we get there." Clementine says, full of hope that her parents are there. However, Bruce and Lee look at each other, getting the feeling that Clem's parents might already be dead.

"Clem...I don't know how to tell you this...but..." Bruce says, only for Lee to finish his sentence.

"I'm not sure that your parents are alive" Lee says. "But...when we get there, we'll look for them...but I'm not sure you'll like what you see." As the two say this, Clementine nods before looking down in immense disappointment.

Suddenly, the train comes to a stop again, prompting the group in the boxcar to head to the cab, noticing a large tanker truck dangling over an overpass, blocking the train's path. "Ugh. Bruce, glad you're here." Kenny says as he looks at him. "Um, you think the big guy could...get up there and move that heap out of the way?" Before Bruce can answer, a man's voice can be heard from the overpass. The group gets out and sees a man and a woman waving at them.

"Hello down there!" The man shouts down at the group.

"You wanna help move this tanker out of the way? We're trying to get somewhere!" Kenny shouts to the two.

"I don't know how!" The man shouts back as Bruce takes off his shirt and transforms, leaping up to the overpass, startling the two as well as Chuck, as they were unaware of Hulk's existence. "Ahhh! Ahhh! What the hell?!" The man screams as he jumps back.

" **Yeah, yeah. Scream away, pipsqueak**." Hulk mumbles.

"A-Are you gonna eat us?" The man asks.

" **No! I don't eat people**." Hulk says as he approaches the tanker and pulls it, easily lifting it back onto the overpass, clearing the path for the train.

"Wow! You're really strong." The woman exclaims, clearly impressed by Hulk's amazing strength. "I-I'm Christa. This is Omid." She nervously says, introducing themselves to their new ally. However, the moment of victory was short lived.

"Walkers! Big herd of walkers! Right behind us!" Ben shouts as he practically throws himself back onto the train.

" **Rrr**..." Hulk growls as he spots a massive horde of walkers slowly lumbering towards the motionless train. He grunts as he walks up to the two strangers. " **Come on**." The two are hesitant, still not trusting the gamma goliath. " **You wanna get eaten? Come on**!" This prompts the two to march up to Hulk, who holds the two tightly as he jumps down to the ground and helps the two onto the train.

"Hulk, get on the train!" Carley says in urgency, as the walkers are closing the distance between them.

"Hulk!" Clem cries out, desperately wanting him to be safe.

" **No. Too many. I'll slow them down. I'll be okay, kiddo**." Hulk says as the train starts to slowly move. Once the train is a safe distance away, Hulk roars as he charges at the walker horde, punching and slamming a seemingly endless army of the undead, Carley and Clem watching helplessly, fearing for Hulk's well-being. Hulk manages to back away from the horde and lifts his arms above his head. " **HULK...SMASH**!" He roars as he brings his fists down onto the ground, rippling the earthen ground, completely obliterating the walker horde. Satisfied, Hulk runs at an amazing speed to catch up to the boxcar and softly jumps in, closing the door behind him.

"Hulk!" Clem cries as she flings herself against him, afraid that he was gonna die. "Don't leave me alone..." She sobs.

" **I wouldn't dare**..." Hulk says in response.

"This is so weird..." Omid whispers to himself.

* * *

- **Later** -

As everyone rests in the boxcar, Hulk included, Lee walks over to Kenny at the cab. "It's hard to believe...we're so close to finding paradise..." Kenny softly says.

Lee smiles. "Yeah. I'll, uh, go tell the others what our next plan is." Before he can do so, however, a feedback is heard coming from Clementine's backpack. Lee spots her old walkie-talkie and pulls it out of her backpack.

" _Hello...there_..." A voice calls out on the other end.

"What the...?" Lee says in response.

" _Can't wait for you to get to Savannah, Clementine. I got your parents right here...and you be sure to find me whether Lee or Hulk wants you to or not_." The voice says again before cutting off.

"Holy shit..." Lee softly exclaims.

"Sounds like someone knows where we're headed..." Kenny says with a sigh.

"Yeah, but who?" Lee asks.

"No clue...but I doubt we're going to be happy when we find out..." Kenny says unsuredly.


	10. Welcome To Crawford

After finally arriving at Savannah, Bruce and the group depart from the train and walk along the empty streets of the city; surprised and wary at the fact that there's barely any walkers in sight. Despite being seemingly safe, everyone kept their guard up. You could never be too careful in this world.

Christa suddenly speaks up and asks, "So, what's the plan? Are we going to just walk around here 'till we find some kind of sanctuary?"

"No, the plan is to get to the docks to find a boat so we can get off the mainland and hopefully find someplace safe." Kenny says.

Christa is skeptical of this, doubting there's any boats left. "I don't know. What if there aren't any boats left when we get there?"

"If you don't like it, you and your husband can get lost for all I care." Kenny rebuffs, to which Christa glares at him and huffs in response as the group continues walking through Savannah.

Clementine walks up to Lee and lightly pulls on his finger. "Lee, can I have my walkie back? Or at least hold it?" She asks.

Unsure if it's a good idea or not, considering the ominous man that Lee heard on it earlier, he refuses. "Maybe later you can hold it, okay?" He asks, to which Clementine nods.

Hearing the two, Bruce walks over to Lee. "Why won't you let Clementine have her walkie?" He asks in confusion.

"I'll tell you later." Lee says to Bruce. Suddenly, a church bell goes off, which startles the group for a moment.

"No, it's okay. That church bell is on a timer." Kenny says.

Confused, Lee looks at his watch and asks, "What church bell goes off at 20 past the hour?"

The former history professor glances up at one of the buildings and spots a person running across it. "Hey, someone's up there!" Lee says, pointing up. "Guys, look!" Lee says to Bruce and Kenny, pointing towards the building he saw the stranger on. "I just saw someone on that building!"

The group looks up at where Lee's pointing, but they don't see anything. "Are you sure somebody's up there, Lee?" Bruce asked.

"I know what I saw." Lee tells him, before he glances back up at the building and yells. "HEY! HEY YOU UP THERE!"

"Lee, keep it down or you're gonna get us killed!" Christa hisses at him.

The former History Professor was going to respond, but Clem's walkie-talkie goes off with someone speaking on the other end. "If I were you, I'd get out off the street. Now."

Everyone, besides Kenny, is surprised and shocked at the fact the walkie-talkie works, but they're also concerned by what the person said.

"I thought that walkie didn't work?" Christa asked, annoyed at being kept in the dark.

Ignoring her, Lee speaks into the walkie, "Um, hello? Hello? Are you there?"

He didn't get a response back, making some of the group nervous.

"Who the hell was that? Is someone trying to fuck with us?" Carley asked.

"It sounded more like a warning." Ben says nervously.

"I agree." Bruce nodded, although, like Christa, he felt a bit angry at Lee and Kenny for not telling him that the walkie worked.

Chuck glances behind the group, suddenly speaking in a cryptic way. "Ask not for whom the bell tolls...It tolls for thee..."

"What're you going on about?" Kenny asks as he turns around, only for Chuck to point at a large herd of walkers that was approaching the group from all around.

"Everybody run!" Lee yells out, prompting everyone in the group to do just that. Acting on instinct, Bruce takes his shirt off and transforms into Hulk, carrying Clementine while punching and tossing aside any walkers that get closewhile Chuck, Christa, and Omid to swing at any approaching walkers with a shovel, a wrench, and a kitchen knife, respectively. Lee, Carley, and Kenny gun down any walker that approaches them as the group runs a great distance from the walkers until Omid trips, twisting his ankle and cutting it something fierce.

"Ahhh!" Omid screams in excruciating pain, prompting Christa to run back to her injured husband. "My ankle! Ahhhh!"

"Guys! It's Omid! Help him!" Christa screams out to the group, only to see several walkers approaching her and Omid. Hulk and Carley rush to their aid, but Chuck gets there first, bashing the walkers with his shovel, which gives Omid and Christa enough time to get up and escape with the group.

" **Chuck**!" Hulk calls out, noticing Chuck fighting more walkers than he can handle.

"Go! Keep going! I'll be fine!" Chuck says to them. As the group runs away, they see Chuck getting swarmed by walkers.

Hulk and the group finally escape from the walker herd and hide out in the backyard of a large house that's boarded up, granting them sanctuary, at least for a bit. As Christa carefully sets the injured Omid down, Hulk softly sets Clem on the ground and turns back into Bruce so he can look at the state of Omid's injured ankle. As he does this, Lee, Kenny, Carley, and Ben focus on trying to find a way into the house itself without alerting the ever-growing walker herd that's lumbering around.

"Bruce, why not turn into the big guy and just...smash the door down?" Kenny suggests, not realizing the loud noise would only put them in greater danger.

"No. That's a very bad idea, Kenny." Lee says.

"Yeah. That would make way too much noise." Carley adds.

As the group struggles to come up with a better idea, Ben spots a doggy door. "Guys, look. A doggy door. Maybe we can get in the house through there-" Ben says, only for Kenny to interrupt.

"No. It won't work. It's too small for any of us to fit through. Plus, we need the collar for the dog that uses this door. See the little sensor on it?" Kenny points out. "We need that collar, or we're not getting in..."

Lee spots a small grave next to a doghouse. "Guys, I think I have an idea of where that collar might be." He says as he picks up a nearby shovel and slowly unearths it, discovering the rotted remains of a dog. Upon seeing the dead animal, Christa looks away and pukes a little as Lee takes the collar off of the dog's neck and uses it to unlock the doggy door, but they still need someone who's small enough to crawl through it.

"I'll go through the door." Clementine says, volunteering to go in. As risky as this was, the group had no better option, so they all nod in agreement, albeit reluctant agreement. After a few seconds of hesitation, Clementine slowly crawls through the doggy door. Luckily, there weren't any walkers around, so she smiles to herself as she unlocks the main door, letting the rest of the group in, who thank Clementine for being so brave.

After the group lays Omid on a couch so he can rest, the group starts to search the lower section of the house for walkers and supplies, though Bruce keeps a close eye on Clementine. After a while, the searching members of the group return, having found nothing but dog food. While Kenny and Ben walk off to check upstairs, Bruce, Carley, and Christa decide to confront Lee in the kitchen on the man's voice from the walkie while Clementine keeps Omid company.

"Talk, Lee." Christa says aggressively.

"About what?" Lee asks in confusion.

"About the voice that we heard coming from the walkie." Bruce adds, joining the conversation.

"I found out about that only this morning." Lee says.

Not believing him, Bruce asks, "Who was the guy on the other end?"

"I don't know who the man on the walkie is, but Clementine might know him; I think she might've spoken to him before." Lee says before looking at Clementine. "Clem. Come here."

Hearing Lee, Clem walks away from Omid and enters the kitchen. "Yes, Lee?"

"What can you tell us about the man on the walkie?" Lee asks.

"I don't know. He just seemed nice and wanted to help us." Clem says.

"Clem...this guy might be a bad person." Lee says warily.

"Yeah. Plus, this guy might try to hurt you or the group." Bruce adds.

Before Clementine can say anything else, Ben runs downstairs. "Lee!" Ben calls out. "Lee, you need to get up here now!"

"Ben? What's wrong?" Lee asks.

"It's Kenny; he hasn't come out of the attic yet." Ben answers. "Kenny said he heard something up there and went to go look."

"He's in the attic?" Lee asks, unaware that Kenny went up there by himself. "Stay here." He says to Ben as he enters the attic.

* * *

- **Attic** -

Lee slowly enters the attic and spots Kenny, who is sitting on his knees, not saying anything.

"Kenny? You okay, man?" Lee asks, nearly gagging from the sudden strong odor that filled the attic. "Jesus! What the hell is that-?" He asks, only to spot a most horrifying sight. Lee's eyes widen as he spots a young boy that has gone through a horrid process of deterioration. His limbs were extremely thin and bony from lack of food, and his eyes were milky white. Most disturbing of all was his close likeness to Duck. "Oh, my God..." Lee says lowly, horrified by what he sees.

"Kinda looks like Duck, doesn't he?" Kenny asks emotionlessly as the walker collapses due to the weakened structure of his legs.

"What the hell happened to him?" Lee asks.

"My guess...he must've been hiding out up here. Starved to death." Kenny answers.

"Jesus Christ..." Lee mutters in response.

I don't know if I can, Lee. Couldn't do it before. I sure as hell can't do it now." Kenny says, unsure if he'll be able to put the walker down; he couldn't do the same for his own son.

"Kenny...it was your son last time. Now it's just a kid who needs your help. You can do this, Kenny. You need to." Lee says.

"I know, Lee. I just...Oh, God..." Kenny says in sorrow. After much more words of grief, Kenny approaches the deteriorated walker, aims his gun at its head, and pulls the trigger, putting it out of its misery. "We should bury him. He deserves better than this."

"I'll take care of it." Lee says as he picks up the walker's dead body, letting Kenny get one last look at the dead walker before Lee carries it out of the attic and takes it outside.

* * *

- **Outside** -

Once outside, Lee carries the dead walker over to the grave of the dog, setting it alongside the animal's remains, burying them together. As he does this, he notices Clementine watching him do this, a look of sadness on her face. Suddenly, Lee spots a mysterious man watching him from the other side of the fence. As the man runs away, Lee yells out.

"Hey! Hey!" Lee yells as the man flees, prompting, Bruce, Carley, Christa, Kenny and Ben to run out of the house.

"What's going on, Lee?" Ben asks.

"I saw someone watching me." Lee answers, much to the shock of everyone.

"I don't like this one bit." Ben says with unease at the thought of someone stalking them.

"I'm with you." Christa says in agreement. "Walkers are one thing, but the thought of someone out there actually stalking us..."

"Okay, that's it. We've stuck around here long enough. It's time to get back on track. I think it's time we head down to the docks and find a boat so we can get out of here." Kenny says.

"I agree." Bruce says.

"Me too." Lee says back.

"Wait. I don't know if Omid is well enough to move yet." Christa interjects.

"Well, it's a risk we'll have to take, because I don't want to stay on the mainland anymore, especially if someone's stalking us." Kenny argues.

"Wait. Can I come with? My mom and dad can't be far now. Maybe we can look for them on the way to the boat." Clementine says.

"It's too dangerous, Clem. Especially with a stalker out there." Bruce says.

"He's right. You should stay with Ben, Christa and Omid, help them get ready to move out." Lee adds, much to Clementine's disappointment.

* * *

- **Later** -

Bruce puts the shirt Carley gave him back on as he gets ready to leave with Lee and Kenny so they can head into town towards the docks, smiling at Carley as the three men start to walk away.

"Be careful, Bruce..." Carley softly says, hoping Bruce doesn't get hurt, or worse...bitten.

* * *

- **Streets of Savannah** -

Lee, Bruce and Kenny walk down the streets, followed closely by the others, as Omid was healed up enough to walk again, heading towards the docks in search of a boat so the group can escape the mainland. Thankfully, it seemed that the walkers have on elsewhere in the city and left the streets entirely, as they were devoid of the undead. As the three men continue to walk, Lee and Bruce take notice of several boarded up buildings that have strange markings written on the walls in red paint. However, they're too focused on finding the docks to really think about it.

"Keep an eye out for Chuck. He could be around here somewhere." Lee says to Bruce and Kenny, believing him to be alive. While Bruce simply nods at this, Kenny remains silent and continues walking, focused more on finding a boat for himself and the group rather then looking for Chuck.

Suddenly, another church bell tolls in the distance, startling the trio, who stop in their tracks. Lee pulls out a wrench that he took from the train, Kenny draws his pistol, and Bruce rolls his shoulders and cracks his knuckles, ready to summon some of his super strength for any upcoming fight. Growls and moans could be heard as a large group of walkers start moving in the direction of the loud bell tolling. Upon seeing the large group of undead, Lee, Bruce and Kenny quickly hide behind a car as the walkers pass on by.

After the walkers are far enough away, the three come out of hiding. "Who the hell is ringing those bells?" Lee asks. "Wait. What if it's the same guy we heard on the walkie and the guy I saw by the fence? Maybe he doesn't want us to leave the mainland..."

"Hold on. The walkers...they're heading to where the bell is tolling. I think they're attracted to sound..." Bruce says, taking note on how the walkers seem to be driven to head to the tolling bell.

"Whatever the case may be, I'm gonna find this guy and ring his own motherfucking bell if we find him." Kenny says angrily.

Lee chuckles at Kenny's words. "Good one."

The walker herd moves on as Lee, Bruce, and Kenny continue on to the docks, but when they reach the river, they're shocked to see that there are no more boats, aside from one that is half sunken in the water. Kenny inspects the half-sunken boat. Once he is done, he walks over to Lee and Bruce.

"Well...the good news is that I might be able to fix it." Kenny says to them. Unbeknownst to Kenny, the two aren't so sure that he can fix it. Kenny looks around a bit before spotting a telescope. "Guys, use that to see if there are any boats along the coast."

Lee nods as he walks over to the telescope, but soon discovers he can't use it, as it's one of those kinds that requires a quarter to use, and he doesn't have any loose change on him.

As Lee and Bruce search the area for a quarter, they step outside, their eyes widening in horror upon what they see: a barrier of sorts at the end of the street, which is made up of numerous butchered body parts, and there are several walkers impaled on pikes surrounding the barrier, clearly set up this way as a warning of some kind. While they look at the barrier in horror, Lee spots a building next to the barrier, bearing the same strange markings they saw earlier. "Bruce, look. Same marking." Lee says.

"Lee, do you think whoever did this..." Bruce says, motioning his hand towards the barrier. "...did this?" He asks as he now points at the building alongside the barrier.

"Yeah." The former history professor says and adds, "And I don't think they're too friendly with outsiders. We should avoid them if we can."

"Definitely." Bruce says nervously with a nod as the duo continue to look for a quarter. Getting an idea, Bruce uses some of his super strength to bust open an old newspaper dispenser, releasing quite a lot of quarters. He smiles as he picks one up and hands it to Lee.

Lee smiles as he takes the quarter. However, just as Lee is about to use the telescope, Kenny walks over to the two men with a disappointed look on his face.

"Bad news, guys. It's a no go on the boat. There's no battery, and the motor is fried." By complete accident, Kenny gets a glance of the barrier, his eyes widening just like the others. "What the hell is that?" He asks, wondering how someone could be so cruel to do something like this.

Bruce looks back at the barrier, then turns to look at Kenny. "A fate worse than death..." He says. After Bruce says this, Lee looks through the telescope, hoping to find any workable boats along the river, but sadly, there are none. Suddenly, the former history professor spots someone in an orange hoodie climbing on one of the buildings.

"Guys, look!" Lee says to Bruce and Kenny, pointing towards the building he saw the stranger on. "I just saw someone on that building!"

Deciding to try to confront the mystery figure, they hide by the docks as the stranger climbs down from the building and starts searching the area.

"I bet that guys our bell ringer." Kenny whispers to them.

"Could be..." Lee whispers back to Kenny.

"Do you think he's part of the group that made that barrier?" Bruce adds to the whisper conversation.

"Well...let's find out..." Kenny says before drawing his handgun. "Lee, approach him from behind. I'll flank him from the left."

"I'll stick back in case you two need backup." Bruce whispers as Kenny and Lee get into position. As Lee approaches a news stand that the stranger is looking through, the mysterious person bends down out of sight. When Lee pulls out his wrench and looks over the counter, the stranger is gone, much to his surprise.

"What the...?" The former history professor says, surprised and shocked by seeing nobody in the stand as his wrench is suddenly jerked from his hand. He quickly turns around, spotting the stranger, who had somehow snuck around the news stand and was now somehow standing in front of him. The stranger whacks Lee across the head with his own wrench, knocking him down. Lee groans as he gets up and tries to fight back, but the stranger was expecting a fight, and uses martial arts to counter and strike Lee with quick precision, taking him down once again.

Seeing his friend in trouble, Bruce rushes to Lee's defense and gets into a brawl with the stranger. Despite now wielding a sharp climbing axe, the stranger is defenseless as Bruce dodges his attacks before tapping into a little of Hulk's super strength and lifts the stranger off the ground by the throat before choke-slamming him onto the ground; it didn't kill the stranger, but it certainly hurt, dazing him enough for Bruce, Kenny and Lee to corner him.

"Who are you?" Lee asks as he recovers his wrench. Instead of verbally speaking, the stranger pulls down his face mask, revealing that the stranger was a woman, much to everyone's surprise.

"Are you guys from Crawford?" The woman asks.

"What's Crawford?" Bruce asks as Clementine walks behind him, having secretly and carefully followed them, not wanting to be left behind.

"Bruce...?" Clem softly asks, startling the men.

"Clem? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be with Ben and the others!" Bruce says.

"I didn't want you to be alone. I was careful." Clem says as she looks at the floor in shame, feeling that Bruce was mad at her.

Bruce sighs. "Clem...I'm glad you're okay...but you really shouldn't be here..." He says as he spots the rest of the group arriving, which explains how Clem got there safely.

The woman notices Clementine and gasps softly. "Yeah, you guys really aren't from Crawford..."

"Cut the cryptic bullshit; what is Crawford?" Kenny asks impatiently as he keeps his gun pointed at the woman.

The woman slowly stands up. "I'm Molly. As for what Crawford is...everything beyond that barricade...that's Crawford." She says as she points at the corpse barricade, making Clementine gulp in disgust upon seeing it.

"What the hell happened here..?" Lee asks.

Molly looks at Lee and asks, "You sure you want to know?" Lee nods slightly in answer. "When everything started going to shit, some people got together and sealed off that whole neighborhood...folks willing to do anything to stay alive. To stop the dead from getting in. I try to avoid them."

"Why?" Kenny asks, crossing his arms.

Molly looks at Kenny and says, "Let's just say they have a...zero tolerance policy for anyone who won't-or can't-live by their rules."

"So how'd you know we weren't from Crawford, then?" Kenny asks.

"Because there aren't any children in Crawford. Not anymore." Molly says in answer as she looks at Clementine.

"Huh?" Bruce responds.

"What do you mean, 'no children'?" Lee asks.

"No children, elderly, or anyone with medical conditions are allowed. Basically nobody that's considered a burden on the community is allowed. This place is all about survival of the fittest. That's how people here survived...while the rest of the world went to shit around them." Molly says with disgust towards the town.

Lee, Bruce and Kenny are shocked as well as disgusted to hear this. How could anyone be so cruel? "How could they do that to those people, especially kids?" Bruce asks, feeling sorry for any of the children and elderly that were kicked out of the community.

However, the group's conversation is halted, as a large group of walkers approaches them, filling the street that Lee, Bruce, Kenny, and Clementine had come from.

"Shit. What do we do?" Kenny asks, turning to Bruce for advice, who is scanning the area with his eyes for any escape routes. Kenny does the same, spotting Molly running into a nearby alleyway and climbing up a fire escape, leaving the others behind.

"No! Don't go!" Clementine pleads to Molly, who looks down at the little girl. Having bonded with the adorable girl over such a short time, most likely due to not seeing another child in so long, Molly nods.

"Hey, over here!" Molly calls out to Bruce, Lee, and Kenny, who quickly run into the alley as Bruce starts helping the others climb up the fire escape ladder. When it's Bruce's turn, the walkers start flooding into the alley quickly, preventing him from escaping, and he didn't want to risk revealing Hulk to Molly. Plus, it'd probably attract more walkers to their location, so Bruce amplifies his strength and takes down several walkers, punching and kicking them with brutal force, which impresses Molly. As Bruce continues to fight them off, he spots a nearby manhole cover and an idea clicks into his head.

"Go! Go back to the mansion! I'll catch up!" Bruce shouts to the others. Knowing that Bruce can handle himself, both Lee and Kenny nod, but Clementine was less enthusiastic about leaving her dearest friend behind.

"No! I won't leave you, Bruce! I can't leave you behind!" Clementine says as she watches Bruce fight off more walkers, fearing that if they leave, Bruce will be devoured.

"Clem, I'll be alright! Just do as I say! Go, now!" Bruce says as he attacks the walkers with more intensity. Clementine tearfully nods as the group leaves him behind, albeit very reluctantly on Clementine's part, but Molly tosses her climbing axe down to Bruce so he can defend himself better.

After the group leaves, Bruce picks up the axe and hurries over to the manhole cover and easily rips it from the ground. As the walkers lumber towards him, he hurls it at them like a frisbee, killing several of them at once.

Bruce then exhales as he hops down the manhole and into the sewer.


End file.
